A Flash of Gold
by Veronica Owens
Summary: Lillian Cannonbergh, a stunningly beautiful, American, 16 year old girl transfers to Hogwarts, catching everyone off guard. All the guys are after her, but she forms a stronger bond with Harry. Unfortunately something crops up that could be the difference
1. Enter Lillian

                               Chapter One- Enter Lillian br br

      A bright scarlet train gleamed, emitting a puff of billowing white steam as the engine prepared to take off. In the very last compartment, two young boys and a girl were sitting, chatting amiably. These, however, were no normal teenagers, and the train was no ordinary train. Within minutes it would be taking these three teenagers to an exceptional school, deep in the London country, where no ordinary person could find it, for their sixth year of education in magic. Ron Weasly, who's red haired, freckled face was well known to be the life of the party, just as his brothers before him had been, Hermione Granger, top in her class, now a prefect, with bushy brown hair and deep brown eyes, and Harry Potter, easily the most recognizable person in that magical world. To all outside eyes, he looked like a normal teenage boy, tall, thin but not scrawny, with jet black hair that he had finally tamed and fell just slightly into his brilliant green eyes. On closer look, one could see a thin, lightning shaped scar smack in the middle of his forehead, where his hair parted. It was this scar that made him so recognizable. It had been given to him by a very dark wizard who had killed his parents with the illegal Avada Kedavra curse. This wizard had tried to kill Harry four times in the past five years in various ways and was the very wizard in fact, which they were discussing. BR

       "Do you think he'll try to break into Hogwarts again? I mean, I'm sure Dumbledore will be keeping a much closer eye on things, though he wasn't ever exactly lax on security," said Ron, looking worried. BR 

      "I don't think so. He probably still fears Dumbledore, he hasn't gotten all his strength back and you should've seen the look of cold hatred in Dumbledore's eyes when he discovered that Crouch had trapped Moody and was using the polyjuice potion to morph into him," Harry said, trailing off into a shudder. He was referring to the two years before, when the dark wizard, Voldemort, had used one of his minions to get Harry to touch a portkey and thus be brought to the dark lord. You see, Harry Potter was the only person to ever escape the Avada Kedavra curse, which killed the victim instantly; all they ever heard was speeding death before their life was stripped from their bodies. The only reason he had escaped was because Harry's mother had sacrificed herself to save Harry, and thus the curse had rebounded upon Voldemort and he had lost all his powers, and this had ended his rein of terror. Unfortunately, he didn't die, and the year before had used Harry's blood, the hand of one of his followers, and the bone of his father to come back to near full power again. BR

      "Yes but didn't Trelawney say that he would come back more powerful than before? I wonder how much more powerful he _can get. All they ever say is Dumbledore's powers _rivaled_ Voldemort's; they never say that they exceeded his." Professor Trelawney was the extremely eccentric divination teacher, who constantly pronounced that Harry was going to die, and had probably had more false predictions than real ones. But in Harry's third year, she had gone into a real trance, and said that Voldemort was going to come back with the aid of a follower more powerful and terrible than before. Then, the year after, he had. The follower she spoke of was Peter Pettigrew, nicknamed Wormtail, who had sacrificed his right hand to bring Voldemort back to power, but so far he had not gained more power. BR_

      Harry opened his mouth to say something but at that moment the compartment door slid open and a very pretty girl entered. She looked a little like Hermione, but she was taller, and fuller. Instead of just generally frizzy large hair, she had sleek, dark curls that flashed gold under the train lights and framed her petite face nicely, falling to her mid back. Also she had stunningly blue eyes below long eye lashes and full, pouty lips. Also unlike Hermione she was wearing make-up, but not an exorbitant amount. The silver eye shadow and rich plum lip gloss only brought attention to the finer aspects of her face. BR

      Harry looked over at Ron and saw that he was slack jawed and his honey colored eyes were blank. He had only seen this look a handful of times before and at that time Ron was in the presence of veela or part veela. This girl obviously wasn't a veela because, though her face did seem to have a glow to it, it didn't shine like a moon and all the veela Harry had ever seen before had nearly white, blonde hair that fell in a straight sheet. Harry looked back at her thinking that, while she wasn't nearly as pretty as a veela, her looks rivaled Fleur, the part veela who had participated in the Triwizard Tournament, and even Cho Chang. BR

      "Do you mind if I sit with you?" She said, smiling shyly. She had a definite Midwestern American accent, but it was charming in its way, "I couldn't find a seat in all the other compartments." She was shifting nervously from one black heel shoed foot to the other, each tapping the floor with a slight click. BR

      "Sure," Ron said dreamily, his eyes still on her, but finally managing to completely close his mouth. BR

      She flopped down next to Hermione and smiled again, showing her straight, white, smallish teeth and looked around. Noticing that no one else wearing robes, she took hers off. The smart gray vest with the Hogwarts emblem she was wearing fit her nicely. Hermione looked her over and frowned slightly. Hermione wasn't the jealous type, but you could tell she didn't appreciate the look Ron was giving the girl. Her bright blue eyes darted to Hermione's flaming brown ones and her smile faltered slightly. She turned away quickly, looking slightly upset but grinned and flushed when she caught Ron's eyes. It was clear someone else was going to have to start conversation; this girl was just too shy, or nervous. BR

      "So, I've never seen you around school before, what year are you?" said Harry, hoping this would open her up a little bit. BR

      "Oh, I'm a sixth year, but I just transferred here from Grimoire Institute, it's a wizarding school in the U.S," she added, catching both Harry and Ron's blank looks. BR

      "I read about that in _Magical Education in the Americas, isn't it somewhere in Michigan?" said Hermione. BR_

       "Oh," she said, looking surprised, "I didn't know anyone knew about it over here, it's a very small, selective school." She stopped. They all wanted to know more about the school but apparently she needed more prodding. BR

      "So, what brings you to England?" Ron said, leaning forward slightly so as to catch every word. BR

      "Well, my dad got a job in the ministry of magic over here, they transferred him in preparation for when they have to fight Voldemort," she stopped because Ron had involuntarily shuddered and said, "what?" BR

      "We don't normally say his name." Harry explained hastily. BR

      "Oh," she said, looking at Ron strangely, "so anyways, my dad's an auror, one of the best in America, you know, Dave Cannonbergh…" BR

      Hermione and Ron's eyes got wide with recognition, but Harry, once again demonstrating his ignorance of the wizarding world, didn't recognize the name. BR

      "So you must be, Lillian…" said Hermione, looking as though she was awed but not liking it. BR

      Lillian giggled, "no one ever calls me that, I'm usually called Lily." BR

      "Hey, that was my mom's name," Harry said, hardly seeing what it had to do with anything but just trying to make conversation. BR

      "That's cool. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, must've just slipped my mind, so who are you guys?" BR

      "Hermione Granger." BR

      "That's a pretty name, Hermione, of course I thought it was pronounced Hermy-own; I read about you in Witches Weekly a few years ago, of course I never believe anything that Rita Skeeter writes, not everyone can be that horrible. But it said that you hang out with Harry Potter…" she said, looking around. Then it clicked, visibly on her face, as her eyes caught Harry's scar, "So you're... wow. I mean, I knew you were in my year but I never expected to meet you so soon, and that means you," she said, catching Ron's eyes again, "must be Ronald Weasly." BR

      "How did you know that?" he said, startled. BR

      "Well you're in Harry's biography, I mean, you _are_ his best friend, aren't you?" she said, and Harry wondered if she read as much as Hermione. She looked over at Hermione and said "and you're in there too, I just didn't remember till now, but you're listed as his girlfriend…" she looked disappointed. BR

      Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but seeing as she hadn't taken a liking to Lily, and because Harry had, he covered quickly with, "No, we're not boyfriend and girlfriend, just good friends. Ron and I saved her from a troll and we've been really close since then." BR

      "Oh!" she said, cheering up and giving Harry a look he'd never gotten before from a girl. However she caught the jealous, downtrodden look on Ron's face and leaned back, switching the leg that was crossed and saying, "so, tell me about Hogwarts. I'm particularly interested in Professor Dumbledore." BRbr

      Ron and Harry launched into an explanation of the castle and grounds, telling her all about Hagrid when she asked who the gardener was and spending a few minutes on Dumbledore. Hermione had buried herself in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6. Lily looked at her curiously, as if to wonder her reason behind her rude silence, and Hermione cast her a dark glare over the top of the book before starting to read again. Lily's round eyes opened wider for an instant and then she looked back to Ron and Harry. BR_

      "We have all the same classes at Grimoire so I'm caught up there, but tell me about the teachers." BR

      "Well there's Professor McGonagall, who's the deputy headmistress, teaches Transfiguration and head of Griffindor…" BR

     "Griffindor?" she said, her eyes squinting slightly with confusion and her head tilting slightly to the right.  BR

     "Oh," said Harry, feeling stupid for not realizing she wouldn't know, "It's a house, there are four of them, into which all the students are sorted, you'll probably be sorted once you get to the school in the sorting ceremony. All they do is put a hat on your head and it tells you which house you should be in," he added, seeing fear flood her face, "there's Hufflepuff, which is generally for the nice nice people, Ravenclaw, for the really smart people, Slytherin, where most of the rude, obnoxious people go, and Griffindor, which is our house." BR

       "Oh, I hope I'm in that one then," she said, grinning again, "so there's McGonagall…" BR

       " and there's Sprout, she teaches Herbology, and she's nice and outdoorsy, and Hagrid of course, he also teaches Care of Magical Creatures, although generally he brings in monsters," Ron paused slightly as she laughed. She didn't seem at all worried about dealing with monsters, "and Trelawney, she teaches divination, did you take divination?" BR

       "Yes, it's one of my favorite classes!" BR

       "Well I don't know if you'll like it much here, Trelawney is very… odd," said Harry, "she keeps predicting my death." BR

      Lily looked shocked, "But surely you're worried?" BR

       "No, I've got a feeling she's just making it up, considering she predicts the death of a student every year," Harry said calmly. BR

       "But to make a false prediction purposely is very serious, it breaks several magical codes and makes a mockery of divination," Lily said, not losing her look of shock. BR

       "Well divination isn't very precise is it, anyways," said Hermione, looking scathingly over the top of her book again. BR

       "Only if you aren't clairvoyant," Lily said surely, for once meeting Hermione's glares with the same level of ferocity. Hermione looked surprised and quickly started reading her book again, her eyes flitting back up over it cautiously. BR

       "And there's Flitwick, he teaches Charms, a very excitable fellow," Ron continued quickly, looking concernedly at Hermione, "and Sinistrata in the astrology department, and Binns, he's a ghost actually, very boring, teaches History of Magic and finally Snape, he's a jerk at best and teaches potions, and we don't really know who's going to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, none of them have lasted a year since we've started here." Ron finished. BR

       "And who teaches Arithmacy?" she asked. BR

       "Er, that'd be… er…," Ron stuttered. BR

       "Vector," Hermione said shortly, not bothering to elaborate. BR

       "Well that's good, when do you think the trolley will arrive?" Lily asked, her stomach growling. BR

       "Oh!" said Ron, looking at his watch, "it must've already passed, it's already 3!" BR

       "It did?" she said, looking disappointed, and surprised they had all missed something so important. BR

       "Well I'll be happy to share my lunch with you," Ron said, pulling out several sandwiches, "Mum always packs enough for an army." BR

       "Thanks!" Lily said, looking delighted, but cautious, "what kind are they?" BR

       "Er…" Ron stalled, pulling apart the bread, "Ham and Cheese." BR

      Lily looked disappointed again, "I don't eat meat," she explained. BR

       "Well I'm sure we can catch her, she's probably some where near the front," said Harry. BR

       "Okay!" she said, looking relieved, but then worried, "would, oh this is embarrassing, would someone come with me? You know, Dad being who he is, I always get really nervous around strange wizards, no matter how young." BR

      Ron opened his mouth to volunteer but Harry beat him to the chase "I'll go, no need to be embarrassed." Ron glared at him. BR

       As they rose and she opened the door, waiting for Harry, she turned, smiling sweetly, and said, "I'll be right back." BR

      They slid the next compartment door open and revealed mostly Slytherins. BR

      They walked slowly, Lily's eyes darting here and there nervously, smiling every once in a while as someone smiled at her. A hush had ensued once they'd entered and now a small buzz began to generate. A few of them hissed insults as Harry passed. The train suddenly rocked and Harry grabbed onto a seat, but Lily wasn't prepared and was thrown onto someone's seat. As Harry hurriedly went to help her up he realized that she'd fallen over the last person he wanted to see, Draco Malfoy, sitting with Pansy Parkinson. BR

       "I am so sorry!" Lily exclaimed, blushing and quailing under the glare Pansy was giving her. BR

       "No problem," Malfoy said smoothly, running his hands through his hair to straighten it, "No problem at all. My name's Draco Malfoy. And who are you, may I ask?"  Harry had never seen Draco be this polite, but he was obviously turning on the charm for Lily because when saw Harry standing next to her, he looked as if he wanted to hurl insults at him, but didn't want to make a bad impression. BR

       "Hi Draco, I'm Lily, Lily Cannonbergh," she said, smiling ever so slightly but still looking embarrassed. BR

       "Oh, so you'd be Dave Cannonbergh's daughter?" he asked, looking slightly abashed at who her father was. After all, her father caught death eaters and Malfoy's father _was_ a death eater. BR

       "Yeah…hey can you tell me how long ago the trolley came over here?" she asked. BR

       "Not too long ago, it only left about an hour ago, it usually spends about 15 minutes per compartment." BR

       "Thank you so much," she said, smiling once more and turning to head for the door. BR

       "Hey, what year are you?" BR

       "Sixth." BR

       "That's my year. I hope you're in Slytherin." BR

      She smiled politely though Harry could tell that she was hoping she _wasn't_. As she walked towards the door, Draco put his leg out in the aisle, and Harry stumbled over it, but caught himself just in time and kept walking, giving Malfoy a furious look as the entire compartment burst out in laughter. Lily looked back, a look on her face like they thought she was laughing at her, and slid the compartment door open, stalking through it. BR

      They found the trolley woman in the next to first compartment, as Lily had to stop and introduce herself to someone in every compartment, although she didn't fall over anyone else, and Harry was caught up in the 3rd compartment when several other 6th year Griffindors called him over to talk to them. He backed out of it by telling them that they had to get food and then briefly introducing Lily. Dean Thomas offered her some chocolate frogs, but she said that she couldn't and they were on their way again. BR

      Once they reached the old witch at the trolley she was nearly out of the compartment. However she was quite delighted because the first compartment was all teachers who hadn't arrived yet and prefects that were trying so hard to impress each other that they rarely bought sweets. Her supply looked sparse but with a smile and a wave of her wand, the cart was full again. Lily expressed her delight at the novelty treats, most of which she said she'd never tried before. She got a few of everything except Bertie Bott's every flavor beans and licorice wands. Harry got a large stack of cauldron cakes and a box of the beans. Lily gave her candy to Harry to carry, who placed them carefully in his large pockets and they headed back. BR

      Soon they reached the Slytherin compartment. Lily paused momentarily then entered huffily, still thinking that they had made fun of her, but she smiled when Malfoy gave her a reassuring look. He stuck out a foot for Harry after she passed, but Harry caught it that time and brought his foot down right on top of Malfoy's, grinding his entire weight into it. Malfoy gave a yelp of pain and then jumped up, wand drawn. Harry spun to face him, also pulling his wand out. Lily looked back, wondering what the racket was about and took in the whole scene. BR

       "HARRY! DRACO! I can't believe you two!" She said, her cheery expression melting into pure disapproval. Grabbing Harry's arm forcefully, she steered him out of the compartment, throwing an appalled look over her shoulder as she slammed the compartment door in Malfoy's face; he had tried to follow them. BR

      They reentered their compartment and saw Ron and Hermione, standing feet apart, facing each other and very red in the face. There was a ringing silence that said that they'd abruptly stopped fighting, and both had a very pained look on their face as their eyes traveled to Lily's hand on Harry's arm. There was a very awkward moment and then all at once, Lily ripped her hand of Harry's arm like he had scabies and sat down, crossing her ankles with a very red face, Ron sat down and glared at the window as if he wanted to break it with his mind, Hermione sat down and gave Ron a very menacing glance before starting in on her book again, turning the page so forcefully the it ripped. Harry plopped down opposite Lily, feeling hurt that she was embarrassed to be seen with her hand on him. BR

      After a few minutes of tense silence, Lily said, "We've only got 5 more minutes until we reach Hogwarts, you should probably change into your robes and uniforms." She pulled on her robes and stood up getting ready to leave so Harry and Ron could change privately. However, Hermione got up and reached the compartment door before her, gliding past her without a word. Lily looked reluctant to follow her and then looked unsurely back and Harry and Ron. Harry was about to tell her to go ahead, that Hermione wouldn't do anything to her, but just as he opened his mouth, Ron said, "You could always go to the back of the compartment," then shot Harry a look that implied that Lily shouldn't go anywhere near Hermione for the next few minutes. Lily, looking grateful walked to the back saying "Just say when." BR

      They changed quickly and called Lily back up. She emerged, looking them over approvingly and holding a purring Crookshanks. Harry smiled at her and she looked up, then at the cat quickly, blushing to be caught admiring Harry and Ron and said, "Who's this fellow?" BR

       "That's Crookshanks," Ron said, looking pleased at her, "It's Hermione's cat." BR

      Lily dropped Crookshanks so suddenly that he hissed and ran under the bench seat. Hermione arrived just in time to see this. She rushed back there, kneeled down and extricated it from under the seat saying "Just _what_ do you think you're doing to my cat?" BR

      Lily was just about to reply when the train came to a shuddering halt. She closed her mouth quickly and brushed past Hermione, grabbing her trunk from the overhead compartment and a very pretty great horned owl that no one had noticed before, it had been so quiet the whole train ride. However it was wide awake and turned its round amber eyes Pigwidgeon disapprovingly, then on Hedwig and hooted; Hedwig hooted back in a dignified manner and started shifting around, antsy to get out. Lily smiled and turned around, her robes swishing around her legs as she exited, her bird craning so as not to loose sight of Hedwig. BR


	2. Harry's First Kiss

                          Chapter Two- Harry's First Kiss br br

      Lily waited for Ron and Harry while Hermione stalked past her. Harry, noticing Hagrid at the end of the platform, led them up to him. Before Harry could introduce her, Lily, apparently now completely over her shyness stuck her hand out and said brightly, "Hello! You must be Hagrid. I've heard so much about you on such a short train ride." br 

       "Oh yeh have?" Hagrid said, taking her hand and shaking it vigorously as his black eyes lit up, "Yeh must be Lillian Cannonbergh? I see yeh've met Harry and Ron, where's Hermione?" br

       "She's already halfway to the carriages," said Ron, looking after her as if paranoid she'd disappear if she got too far. br

       "Well why don'tcha two go and catch up with her," He said smiling at them, then turned to Lily, "Yeh'll be joinin' the firs' years going across the lake." br

      Lily waved to them and smiled happily and she and Hagrid headed off to the boats. Harry and Ron were more than a little disappointed that Lily wouldn't be joining them in the horseless carriages that brought everyone but the first years up to the castle, but it gave them a chance to talk to Hermione. As they caught up to her after weaving between the other students at a run, Hermione said coldly, "So where's _Lilly-anne_?" br

       "She had to go with the first years, what's your problem?" Ron said, slamming the door to the carriage after Harry had climbed in. Neville was standing outside looking hurt and Harry tried to portray with his eyes that it just wasn't the time. br

       "Well she shows up and it's like you two suddenly go blind. Can't you see she's toying with you? 'Oh I'm afraid to go alone, let me grab your arm Harry.' GAWD!" she said in a disgusted tone after mimicking Lily's high soft voice with a falsetto using a very fake valley girl accent. br

       "You know what Hermione? I said this on the train and I'll say it again, I think you're jealous!" He spit the last word with as much venom as he could muster. This wasn't going the way Harry had wanted it to. br

       "So that's what you guys were fighting about?" said Harry, cutting Hermione off before she could say anything rude, "Well I think you're both making huge prats of yourselves. Ron, Hermione probably just doesn't like her." He only said this because he didn't want Hermione to think that Ron and he were ganging up on her, "and Hermione, you'd best get used to her because she's in our year, she's really nice, she's in at least five of your classes and the only reason she had a hold of my arm was because she was pulling me away from Malfoy!" br

      Hermione's angry face melted into resignation. She sighed as the carriages stopped and said as she stepped down, "I guess you're right, I'm being stupid, after all _what's to be jealous _of_?" That wasn't quite the reaction he was hoping for but he'd supposed he'd have to settle for it for now. br_

      They walked into the castle, and Harry was quite glad to be back, with his friends, even if they were being stupid. They had gotten halfway to the great hall when Harry felt something fall on his neck. He looked up and, with the reflexes only a five year quiddich player could have, darted out of the way just as Peeved dumped a huge pot of dirt complete with a fern onto Collin Creevy who had been walking right behind Harry. He stood stock still, shocked as Peeves floated downward, cross legged and placed the copper pot on his head too, kicking it sharply with his foot so it rang, then flew, cackling down the hallways. Draco Malfoy passed and laughed darkly at Collin, who was trying to pull the heavy vase off his head. He circled Harry like a bird of prey, saying quietly, "You had better not hope you've ruined my chances with Lily, because I could tell Dad and we might see if you can cheat death again, Potter," then walked away, Harry glared after him, more worried about Lily than himself. br

      Harry helped Collin with the pot and had just managed to set it safely down when Professor McGonagall came into the room, looking as strict and proper as always. She took one look at Collin and asked, "Peeves?" Collin nodded and McGonagall gave a wave of her wand muttering _"cleanivisio."_ Collin was instantaneous as clean as he was before Peeves. br

       "Well into the great hall, all of you" she said briskly, and then called a broom and dustpan to her using the summoning charm. Harry saw the broom skim across the floor and sweep up all the dirt into the dustpan within seconds then disappear with a little pop before he entered the hall. The bewitched ceiling was a clear midnight blue with the moon directly in the middle and stars shining all around it. Harry, Ron and Hermione filed in between the tables, finally reaching the Griffindor table where they were careful to sit nearest the seats they were saving for the new students. The golden plates and goblets shone in the light of thousands of candles that floated above the tables just high enough not to be obtrusive. Harry looked along the staff table and scanned the faces. All the seats were filled, but Harry couldn't find a new face. He looked back more carefully there was Vector, Snape, Trelawney, Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin… _Lupin__? br_

       "What's Professor Lupin doing back here?" Harry asked Hermione. Hermione looked up at the staff table and did a small double take, "I thought he wasn't coming back after, well after he accidentally turned into a werewolf," said Harry so low only Ron, Hermione, and he could hear. br

       "I don't know, I guess we'll have to ask him when we have our first Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson." br

      At that moment, the first years filed in, all looking very small and frightened, followed by Lily. Even from that distance anyone who looked at her could tell that she was very pretty and nervous, attempting not to look at the hall filled with people she didn't know. Hagrid came in after her, and took his place and the end of the table. Professor McGonagall stood up and walked over to the three legged stool the fist years had lined up in front of and placed a very dirty and patched wizard's hat onto it. A rip in the brim of the hat had opened wide and it began to sing: brbr

            _Every year I see new kids br_

_            Coming here to Hogwarts school br_

_            To learn all about wizardry br_

_            And gather all the tools br br_

_            But all of these children br _

_            Cannot travel in one big group br_

_            So I was created to choose br_

_            Which students will belong in which troop br br_

_            There's Griffindor br_

_who__ was always brave br_

_            where chivalry and bravery br_

_make__ all the critics rave, br_

_            There's Ravenclaw br _

_Who was fond of brains br_

_Where any problem can be solved br_

_Whether math or magic or trains. br br_

_There's Hufflepuff br_

_Who was always so kind br_

_Justice, sweetness and courtesy br_

_One in their presence can find. br_

_And finally there's Slytherin,br_

_Who was ambitious to say the least br_

_Where people who will use any means br_

_Can always find a feast.__ br br_

_So go ahead and pick me up br_

_I'll tell you where you should be at br_

_Because truly and magically br_

_I am a mind reading hat! brbr_

      The great hall burst into applause and Professor McGonagall unfurled a piece of parchment as she called out, "Cannonbergh, Lillian!" Lily stepped forward gracefully and sat down on the chair as every head in the hall craned to see who it was, then turn to speculate why she looked so old. When Fred and George turned and asked Harry, he wasted no time in telling them that she was in fact a fifth year girl from Grimoire Institute in the United States.  Fred and George passed it down the table until everyone knew, and the buzzing, stopped, at least at the Griffindor table. Pretty soon it had stopped at the Slytherin too, and eventually everywhere else. The sorting hat seemed to be taking a long time with Lily, but after a bit longer the rip in the brim opened up and it shouted out, "GRIFFINDOR!" Harry's table positively exploded. He'd never heard such a noise from someone joining the house than when he himself had become a Griffindor. br

       "Guess you got you wish, eh Lily?" said Hermione amiably, but sounding slightly strained. Lily smiled widely and nodded, sitting and picking up a plate to examine it. br

       "Are these real gold?" she asked, turning it over carefully in her hand and then setting it back down to pick up the goblet. br

       "I think so, but they've been hardened," said Ron, watching her carefully. She was tracing her longish metallic silver painted nail on the brim, following the ornate design. She placed it back down and smiled, looking down the table. br

       "So who here is in our year besides Dean and you three?" br

      They introduced her to everyone and she smiled at each one in turn, waving enthusiastically at Lavender Brown and Paravati Patil, the two prettiest girls in the house before Lily arrived. Both of them smiled and waved back looking as if they wanted to ask her to move down. br

      Hermione was complaining about hunger, since she hadn't eaten at all on the train and was wiggling in her chair, staring at her plate as if she could make food appear. The first years slowly trickled to the tables, until a point when Hermione looked like she was going to pass out with hunger. br

      Dumbledore stood up, his long white beard shining in the light as he waited for it to get silent. Once he had everyone's full attention he said, " I know you are all anxious to get to your meal," several sounds of agreement answered, "but before any rumors have been set in stone, I would just like to tell you why we have a very old looking first year this year." Lily looked in to her plate, like she couldn't believe this was happening, but she wasn't blushing. After a few seconds she looked up at Dumbledore who was watching her, then continued, "Miss Cannonbergh is from Grimoire Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States of America. She's a sixth year student and has moved here recently, so she will be joining this school. I trust that all of you will welcome her and help her adjust to her new surroundings. Now I just have a couple more words, _let's eat!" br_

      The golden trays in front of them filled magically and Harry helped himself to a little of everything, even though he really wasn't hungry. A large pile of steak had appeared in front of Lily and she looked at it, obviously disgusted before helping herself to some mashed potatoes, minus the gravy, and a helping of salad. Harry watched her and she carefully divided her food and ate, taking small bites and carefully chewing what Uncle Vernon would have called 'rabbit food.' She ate as she did everything else, carefully, but effortlessly, and in a way that made Harry feel like he could watch her all day. As Harry watched he felt his stomach writhe and twist and then feel as if it had jumped suddenly up several feet. He looked over to the Ravenclaw table at Cho Chang, the only other girl that had given him this feeling, but even though she was almost as pretty, there was something about Lily that made even Cho seem plain. Harry continued to eat and once he thought he was absolutely going to burst, the main course disappeared and desserts appeared. br

      He looked over at Lily again and saw that a smile had crept up as the steaks were replaced with a large bucket of soft ice cream next to which sat all the fixings. She took a large scoop and poured hot chocolate over it, then sprinkles. He watched her dig in and take the first bite-full, making to get every bit of hot chocolate by sucking on the spoon for an instant. He'd never felt _this way about a girl. He looked over at Ron and saw that he too was watching her, as she chatted with a first year girl. As he looked down the table he saw the numerous boys, even the older ones were staring, as though transfixed, at her. br _

       "Oi! Lily, would you mind passing the ice cream down here?" said Harry, hoping to distract the other boys. For some reason he could barely stand them even looking at Lily with that odd glint in their eyes. Lily nodded and passed down the ice cream, struggling a little bit under its weight and then the toppings bowls. Hermione was looking at her very sourly but when Lily smiled Hermione smiled back. At least Hermione was going to _pretend_ to like her. br

      After a while the deserts too disappeared to reveal the plates gleaming gold again. Lily expressed her delight and surprise and everyone chuckled except for Hermione, who laughed in a rather annoyed fashion a little too late. Dumbledore once again stood up and this time it became almost instantaneously silent. br

       "Did everyone have a good meal?" he asked, smiling around at everyone, "good!" he said as if someone had answered him, "I would like to remind everyone that the dark forest on the edge of the grounds is forbidden, also no student, with any excuse, is allowed out of bed now. As forewarning for some of you more bashful people, after much discussion and many pleas from you students since the last one, it has been decided that the Yule Ball shall be held every year instead of just the years where the Triwizard Tournament is held. Of course, it will be for students from Hogwarts, although any student who wants to travel that far from other schools may come and is welcome to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas Holiday. As last year, this ball is only open to students fourth year or above although an older student may invite a younger student. Well that's it, you all need some sleep for the start of lessons tomorrow!" br

      Everyone got up and stretched, ready for bed. This years male prefect walked around to the front of the table and said, "First years, Lily, follow me," and everyone else filed out the doors before them. As Harry, Ron and Hermione walked up the steps, their feet weighed down from need of sleep, Ron turned to Hermione and asked, "It's not that hard being nice to her, is it?" br

      Hermione gave him a look, her eyes flashing but then said, "It's just so hard seeing someone smiling, all the time, and laughing, and giggling. She seems like such a little git, I don't understand what you guys see in her." br

       "Well, she's gorgeous, for one," began Ron. Hermione shot him another look. She hated it when people judged based on looks. br

       "and she's very nice…" added Harry. br

       "and she's cute, but not only in looks…" said Ron. br

       "and very sweet natured…" said Harry. br

       "and she seems like a good person…" said Ron. br

       "THAT'S ENOUGH!" said Hermione, loudly. Not only did she hate to be proven wrong, but her jealously had apparently over come her. Plus they were at the portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress that had just asked, "password?" br

       "Celestial Glow," said Hermione, who, being a prefect had been told the password. The portrait swung open and they entered the common room. Apparently they were the only people who hadn't gone up to bed, or they were the first ones there, because the common room was deserted, which was quite unusual, even on the first day. br

       " Do you think we should wait for Lily, I mean, the first year girls won't be able to show her where the bedroom is and I don't know, I think it would mean a lot to her," Ron said, trying to cover his desire to see her again. br

       "Oh all right," Hermione said, sighing and flopping down into a chair. br

      Within minutes the first years and Lily entered the common room, the prefect announcing, "Welcome to the Griffindor common room. Boys dormitories are up two flights of stairs to the left, girls the same on your right. I'm sure you all will want to go to sleep pretty soon," he said, giving Ron, Harry, and Hermione a look too, "and you'll find that your things have already been brought up. Lily, would you like me to show you to your dormitory?" He moved closer to her, reaching out to guide her by the small of her back, but before he could touch her she smiled, apparently flattered and said, "no thanks, I think that's what these guys stayed up to do for me, but thank you," she gave him a grateful smile and turned to the three of them as the prefect walked away, looking disappointed. br

       "Thank you guys so much, I don't really trust that guy, he was hitting on me the whole way up here, barely stopping to explain the way to the common room," she smiled again in an embarrassed sort of way. br

       "It's okay," said Ron, "he's a stupid prat anyways." br

       "Prat?" she said, confused. br

       "Er… it's sort of an idiot, sort of a jerk," Ron explained, "don't you ever use that in America?" br

       "I've never heard it before," she said, "but it sounds like a pretty good word, prat," she said, trying it out.  br

       "Well, we'd best get to bed, it's past ten and after all we do have lessons tomorrow, aren't you excited Lily?" Hermione asked, still saying her name with a slight coldness. br

       "Very, and I have to get up pretty early so that I can make sure that this," she said, tugging on one of her curls. Harry's eyes followed it as it sprung back into place, "isn't a frizzy mess tomorrow." She winked and followed Hermione out of the common room and up the stairs, giving them a small wave as she went out of view. br

       "Wow…" said Ron, sinking into the chair again, "she is so…wow!" br

       "No kidding, but half the school's going to be after her before long," Harry said, wondering how he was ever going to have a chance with her. But then again, she did seem to like him. br

       "You're telling me, and what's worse, I've got _you_ to compete with," said Ron, not looking too thrilled at the prospect. br

       "What do you mean _me? Ron you've got just as much, if not more of a chance as I do!" br_

       "Are you kidding me? You're famous, and Harry if you haven't noticed, girls go for you… remember the last Yule Ball?" In their fourth year, Harry had been a champion for the Triwizard Tournament and had girls asking him every day to go with them, but that was that year, and he doubted anyone would want to go with him, now that he wasn't a champion. br

       "Yeah, but that was fourth year, and she acted just as interested in me as you. I guess it just comes down to who she eventually chooses, but promise me we aren't going to fight over her, okay?" br

       "Okay. Now let's go to bed." br

      They shuffled up the stairs and down the next flight to their old common room, now marked "sixth years." As they slid into their crimson hung four-post beds, they noticed that no one was sleeping. Dean was tacking up his poster of the West Ham soccer team, which he put up every year, and Neville Longbottom, a notoriously klutzy, forgetful boy, was still wriggling into his pajamas. He had grown over the past couple of years, about six inches, but his old pajamas hadn't. Now, instead of being tight around his belly and long for him, the pajamas hung limp around his chest and stomach and were a good two inches short for him. Harry hadn't noticed before, but Neville's face wasn't as round anymore and his double chin was obsolete. Also, when he climbed into bed, he didn't seem worried about anything he'd left behind, as he had in past years.  He'd really grown up over the summer. br

       "So what about that Lily girl?" said Seamus Finnigan, climbing into bed. br

       "What about her?" said Ron shortly. br

       "She's really pretty, don't you agree?" he replied. br

       "Yeah," said Neville, sleepily, "but she'll have a boyfriend within the week, guaranteed." br

       "Do you think I'd have a chance with her?" Dean asked, yawning. br

       "Do you think any of us would?" retorted Seamus. br

       "So who do you think she'll wind up with?" asked Dean. br

       "Probably some handsome, popular seventh year," said Seamus, stifling a yawn. br

      With that all conversation ceased. Harry lay awake, the boys' conversation echoing through his mind. '_She'll have a boyfriend within the week' '_Do you think any of us would?_' '…__some handsome, popular seventh year' His stomach groaned with anxiety. He really really liked this girl, felt differently about her than any other girl he'd ever met. It wasn't just awe at her beauty, it was a deeper feeling. She was so nice, so cute, so cheerful. She had to be the one for him, she just had to be. He wanted her so bad. As he rolled over thoughts rushed through his mind that had never been there before. He was picturing himself holding Lily, running his fingers through her soft curls, kissing her lips. His fantasies turned into dreams as he saw himself doing things that he hadn't even been thinking about…br_

      He woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and went out to the common room. She was sitting there staring into the fire. She was wearing pajamas of light blue silky material. Her legs were tucked under her and she looked up smiling at him as he entered, "I couldn't sleep, it's too different." A frown flickered across her face as she looked back into the flames. A tear slowly formed in her eye and trickled down her face, catching the light and sparkling. Harry wanted more than anything at the moment to take away whatever was hurting her. He stood over her and naturally, almost instinctively, puller her towards him. He hugged her for a moment and then she pulled away, looking at him with a look of deepest gratitude. br

       "My mother died a few months ago, that's part of the reason we moved here. Dark wizards everywhere are stirring now that Voldemort, I- I'm sorry, You-Know-Who has once again risen." br

       "It's okay, you can say his name around me. You know about my parents of course, but I can't imagine what it's like to lose a mother when you're older," Harry said in a comforting way. br

       "Well one of his death eaters just showed up one day, I was at school, my dad was at work. My mom was a muggle, did I ever tell you that? Well when we came back she was just lying there on the floor. I don't even know why they did it, probably just to get to my dad…" she trailed off, more tears sliding down her face. br

       Harry didn't know what to say. He just wiped away her tears and pulled her into another embrace. br

       "I- I don't know what it is Harry, I just feel like I can trust you. Don't tell anyone okay, I don't want anyone pitying me, it just gets so hard sometimes." br

       "I know," he said, struggling to keep the pain he was feeling for her at a bare minimum, "I know. Do you want me to bring you back to your dormitory?" br

       "Please?" br

      Harry put his arm around her waist and brought her back to her dormitory. She laughed shortly and wiped the last remnants of her tears away. "Thank you so much, Harry, you don't know what this means to me. Then she leaned in and quickly, sweetly, brushed her lips against his. br


	3. The First Day

                                    Chapter Three- The First Daybr br

       "SHE DID WHAT??!!" Ron exclaimed when Harry told him the next day. It was surprisingly early, but there was someone up and already bumping around the common room. br

       "Yeah," Harry said distractedly. He still couldn't figure out how in the world he'd had the good fortune of waking up that late at night. Was that all it was? Luck? Would the same thing have happened if Ron had woken up and gone out to see her? "It kind of came as a surprise, I mean, I've helped out Hermione before and the most I've gotten off her is a little peck on the cheek, not that I want more, mind you," he added, seeing the look on Ron's face. Ron apparently was struggling between his liking for Hermione and the sudden attraction to Lily. br

       "Do you have any idea how lucky you are? You just met the girl! She hadn't even been at school five hours and already she had all the guys in the palm of her hand, although she doesn't seem to know it…" Ron said, his face still contorting with a cross between jealousy and awe. br

       "Who's in the common room? Do you hear that?" Harry said, changing the subject. It sounded like someone was throwing things around the room. br

       "I don't know, probably Peeves, let's go see." br

      Ron and Harry hurried out to the common room still in their pajamas. They had both put on slippers, Ron's pajamas hanging a good two inches above them, but they made enough racket coming down to scare anyone away that wasn't supposed to be there. As they walked in the archway into the common room they saw Lily, sitting down in front of the far, attracting a large dictionary to her and putting it back absentmindedly, barely moving her mouth when she said the charms. She looked up while the dictionary was mid-air and it dropped with a plop on the floor. br

       "Oh, hi. I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" she said, raising her wand once again and banishing the dictionary back to its proper place and then putting her wand away in a pocket of her robe. br

       "N-No, we were already up," Ron lied. br

       "Oh, good. I didn't realize I was making so much noise, or really that I was doing that at all," she gave an embarrassed sort of grin, "I was just thinking while waiting for this mop to dry." She shook her hair back, splattering water everywhere. br

      She didn't seem to remember the night before, or maybe she was just choosing to ignore it. Either way she was acting perfectly normal again. Once Harry and Ron had gotten over their surprise at seeing someone in the common room at six A.M. practicing the summoning and banishing charms, they pulled themselves together enough to notice what she was wearing. She was sitting there in the middle of the common room wearing a fuzzy pink bathrobe just like the one that Hermione had, her hair damp and just beginning to form curls. If anything she looked more stunning without make-up. She was very naturally beautiful, although it wasn't as shocking now. br

       "Well since we're all up, do you guys want to go get dressed and we can go down to breakfast together?" she said, looking as if she couldn't care less that her hair was still wet and she didn't have any make-up on. Hermione had never worn make-up except for the Yule Ball, but even she wouldn't go down to the banquet hall without looking perfectly normal. Ron and Harry marveled at this on their way back to the dorms, then changed quickly and headed back down to find Lily in the exact same spot except looking exactly as she had the day before. Somehow in 15 minutes her hair had completely dried and her make-up had been applied perfectly. br

      She smiled and they walked down to the hall together, but at the entrance Lily paused and said, looking at Ron, "Would you mind giving Harry and me a moment? We'll be in in a second." Ron didn't look too happy about this but sighed and walked into the hall and sat at the currently empty Griffindor table. There were only a few people up and in the Great Hall but the food was already on the tables, it must have been magically kept hot. Lily put her hand uncertainly on Harry's arm and led him a little bit away from the hall and into an empty corridor. br

       "Li-Listen Harry, about last night…" she began, looking nervous again. br

       "It's okay, I understand, it didn't mean anything," Harry said, feeling as if his heart was being weighed down by a large brick, "you were just, I dunno, vulnerable or something." br

       "No!" she said, looking surprised, then her eyebrows furrowed with concern, "Harry I really like you, I mean, I know I've only known you for a little bit, but I feel like I could tell you anything, but I just, I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, it was inappropriate, especially when I'd only know you for, like, ten hours or something." br

       "That's it?" Harry said, a huge feeling of relief spreading throughout his body, feeling like he could float a few inches off the ground like when he ate a levitating sherbet ball, "well don't worry about it, I wasn't exactly about to complain." br

      She smiled sweetly and said, "Well don't expect another one too soon. Now let's go back to breakfast, I'm starving." br

      They headed back, Harry a little confused but mostly happy. A sense of utter contentment had invaded his body and it was rivaled only by the feeling he had gotten when he had first been put under the Imperious Curse for the first time. Right before they reached the corner, Lily waited a little for him, because Harry was lagging slightly behind, lost in his thoughts, and then she put her arm in his in a friendly sort of way, giggling and smiling into his face. br

     He'd never noticed before but Lily was only about half an inch shorter than himself. His head swam; the effect of her cool, smooth skin on his was enough to boggle anyone's mind. What was happening to him? How could one girl's touch have such an odd effect of him? His heart was racing and he didn't know what to do, he just sat there, smiling dumbly. Before they reached the entrance she slid her arm out of his with another little smile and led the way in. br

      The hall was fairly full now and Seamus cat called them as they walked in together. Harry felt the heat flood to his face but Lily smiled calmly at Seamus and said, "Good morning." Hermione glared slightly at Lily but when she turned and grinned at her, her eyes widened and her lips twisted into a very forced smile. Ron shot Harry a confused look and Harry leaned forward, whispering so low that only Ron could hear him, "I'll tell you later." br

      Lily was surveying the food with a queasy look on her face. She seemed reluctant to complain, but finally mustered up the courage to say, "Don't, well, don't they have any, lighter food? Like, cereal or something?" br

       "What?" said Hermione, a forkful of eggs halfway to her mouth. br

       "Well, this food's awful rich for breakfast every day isn't? I mean, it's fine on special occasions but isn't there any fruit or anything or maybe just a bowl of cheerios?"

       "Cheerios?" said Ron, shooting her a confused look. br

       "They're little O's that are made of, I dunno, like, wheat or something. That's what I normally eat for breakfast." br

       "I don't see anything like that," said Harry, looking up and down the table, "sorry, maybe you could talk to the house elves?" br

      "Oh okay," she said, pouring herself a glass of orange juice but not touching anything else. br

       "You know you _could eat something. It's just for one day," said Hermione defensively, like just because she didn't like the food, she was insulting the school. br_

       "No, I'll be fine. Anyways, most of the stuff is eggs and meat and stuff like that. You know I don't eat anything like that." At that moment there was a rustling of wings and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the tables looking for the recipients of their notes or packages. Harry noticed that Neville, for once, didn't have a large package dropped into his lap by an owl. Lily however had her owl land gracefully, grabbing onto the edge of the table with dangerous looking claws. It dropped a small package with a note attached in her lap and she ripped it open, revealing an ornate bottle of something that looked like light pink colored water. On the front, scrawled in gold letters was written: br b

**                             Mme.Adorer's 168 heure eu de cologne**

                                                              Coup de Foundre br

       "What does that say?" Hermione asked interestedly. br

       "Madame Adorer's 168 hour perfume, love at first sight. It's my very favorite perfume, but my bottle was smashed on the ride here; we had to travel by floo powder and my purse smacked against the chimney on the way down. I was so upset, I guess Dad must've gotten me some more, that's so sweet of him." She explained, smiling wider than ever. Her eyes were lit up as well as her face with an expression of pure delight, "this bottle will last me three years, a drop of this lasts a week! It's made with a special long-lasting charm and won't lose potency at all. When it smashed the smell was so strong that I had to put my purse outside all week, just to keep everyone from getting dizzy."          Everyone who was listening laughed and she unscrewed the small gold top. She took her wand out and muttered "_odorious__," tapping it lightly on the top. A small bead of the pink water came out and attached itself to the tip of her wand. She tapped it lightly on her wrists, and then wiped the rest on her finger, placing them behind her ears and spreading the remainder on her neck. br_

      A light, airy, flowery scent met Harry's nose. It made him slightly dizzy but was very pleasant. He felt like he could smell that every day and night for a year and not get sick of it. He looked back at Lily and she was carefully wiping the end of her wand on her robes and screwing the cap back on. br

       "Mmm, that smells good," said Lavender, "do you mind if I use some?" br

       "Sure, but be really careful, all you have to do is tap your wand on the top and say '_odorious' and then tap your wand wherever you want the perfume to go, but be careful to clean it of the tip of your wand or it won't work right." She handed the bottle carefully to Lavender, who acted as if it might shatter in her hands. She turned it over, admiring it, and attempting to read the instructions on the back of the bottle, also in gold ink, and in French. After she'd gone through the motions, her scent mingled with Lily's. It was weird, completely different but somehow they meshed. br_

       "Hey!" said Lavender, "How come it doesn't smell the same as yours?" Of course, she wasn't complaining, because the perfume smelled great on her too, although Harry didn't like it quite as much. It was still light and flowery, but seemed to be the scent from a completely different flower. br

       "Well, it's a different scent for everyone. See, mine is a lily of the valley, not only because it's my name but because it's my favorite flower. It takes your favorite flower and mixes it with your most natural smell. That's part of the reason I love it so much, I'll never smell mundane, like everyone else. Yours smells like," she paused, tilting her head back and sniffing lightly, "a combination of rose and lavender, your favorite flower and name. Of course it doesn't work like that for everyone because not everyone has a flower name." br

      Lavender looked like she couldn't be more delighted and all the girls were soon talking, passing the bottle up and down the table until Harry was quite sure that their table could be smelled all around the school. Even though each girl was now wearing a different scent, they mingled pleasantly, to give an impression of standing in the middle of a wildflower meadow. Harry was feeling slightly dizzy, but his senses sharpened after he'd gotten used to the sudden flood of odors. Professor McGonagall walked by, wrinkling her nose at the smell but continuing to pass out course schedules. br

      Ron examined his and said, "Well, same as last year, outside all morning Mondays. Not bad at all, but then we've got double divination in the afternoon. Great, we don't even have Defense Against the Dark Arts until Thursday. Well maybe you could corner Lupin some free period." Lily was reading the letter from her father, smiling from time to time, then she folded it up and tucked it in a pocket of her robes. Harry was more interested in watching her than worrying about Lupin at the moment. br

       "Oh!" she said delightedly, "so we've got _all_ our classes together today. Great!" br

       "Not with all of us," said Hermione, looking down at her schedule, "I don't have divination after lunch, I don't take that class; it's impractical." br

       "Well what do you take instead?" Lily said in a challenging tone, obviously still prepared to defend divination. Harry wondered how long that would last after she met Professor Trelawney. br

       "Arithmacy," Hermione replied curtly. br

       "Wait, that can't be right, isn't there only one 3rd year Arithmacy class?" She studied her schedule carefully, then with a little exclamation said, "I don't even have Arithmacy on here! That can't be right, it's very important that I take it." br

      Without wasting a second she stood up and hurried up to the staff table, something that Harry had never seen anyone do before in the middle of a meal. Professor McGonagall apparently hadn't either as she gave Lily a very surprised but slightly amused look. Lily leaned in, pointing to her schedule with a very concerned look on her face. Professor McGonagall said something and Lily obviously didn't like the answer because she started talking very fast, but Professor McGonagall held up a hand to silence her. Lily quieted automatically, but looked like she'd never been told to be quiet before. Hermione sniggered into her eggs. However she nodded, apparently giving up, then she shook her head and headed back, the whole hall watching her, but not noticing. She plopped down in her seat again and heaved a huge sigh, staring at her schedule. br

       "Since Arithmacy and Divination are both choices here, they are scheduled for the same time, there's just no way to get around it. McGonagall said I could go to half of each, but I couldn't do that, I'd miss important lessons," she explained, half to herself, sounding a lot like Hermione, "or maybe she could find a way that I could do both, but I want _some_ free time, and that would be too much homework. No, there's now way around it, I have to choose one and since I'm signed up for divination…" she concluded. She set down her schedule and sighed again, the looked up like she was just realizing they were there, smiled and said, "Lead the way to the greenhouse." br

      Professor Sprout was waiting for them all outside greenhouse two. She was rubbing her hands together delightedly, meaning that they were probably going to be doing something very dirty or slightly dangerous. She led them into the greenhouse and showed them plants that were, like usual, odd looking, although not as ugly as normal. br

      They were what looked like miniature straight bonzi trees. Except that they had only two branches that ended in five elongated twigs with sharp looking buds. A round growth appeared to be growing out of the space between the branches with long sinewy startling white hairs that fell down four or five inches on the short trunk and were sprinkled with different colored flowers. The trunk itself curved in and out in a similar fashion as a woman's body with two large tufts of stingy moss that looked like wings. br

       "These are dietiem trees. We are going to collect the tears in these vials." She held up small, clear, glass bottles with white corks. Harry wondered where they were going to get tears from, seeing as the trees didn't appear to have eyes, "Now be careful, they can be vicious, deitiem trees." br

      She pulled on a pair of gloves and a set of earplugs and then picked up a short, miniature cane. She gave the tree one good hard whack with it, making it look perfectly normal to be caning a tree, and it responded by scraping its sharp buds along Professor Sprout's glove quickly and repeatedly. A pair of radioactive yellow eyes appeared on the round growth and the wood pushed out and moved in, forming a relief pattern of a nose and mouth. The mouth was twisted with rage and the eyes narrowed as Professor Sprout stepped away and the long fingers clawed at her. She stepped forward again and gave the trunk another sharp whack. The tree instantly stopped clawing and closed its eyes, screwing up its mouth. It opened it and let out a long screeching cry that could break your heart. Everyone covered their ears as Professor Sprout held the vial under its right eye, where a solution was dripping that was the same radioactive color as the eyes. Once the vial was about half full, the dietiem tree stopped crying and opened its eyes again, which were turquoise now. It smiled up at Sprout before its face disappeared back into the wood. br

       "Normally dietiem trees are very gentle, but once every three months, the toxins in their bark collect and they get very grumpy. The only way to purify them is to make them cry, otherwise they would die," she was explaining all this while going through the above motions, "Fortunately for us the tears have healing powers and can save most people from mortal wounds. Also they are used in many spa treatments to purify human skin. Now, each of you take a set of earplugs and put on your dragon hide gloves. I expect you all to have at least a vial-full by then end of class." br

      Lily, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ernie McMillian, a very two-faced Hufflepuff boy, and Justin Finch-Fletchy, a Hufflepuff who Harry had once saved from a snake, all went to the same table. Professor Sprout had been right about these things being vicious, Harry thought as his tree managed to get under his glove and gave him a long scratch on the hand. It stung but didn't appear to be very serious, so he continued. After his plant had returned to its peaceful state, Harry took the time to see how the others were doing. The dietem trees appeared to have a preference for girls. While Hermione's and Lily's barely fought after the first hit, Ernie's was attempting to dig its buds through his gloves, Justin's was bearing it's teeth menacingly and attempting to bite as well as scratch, and Ron's was beating its wings up against his face. Eventually, though, everyone managed to get a vial-full. Neville, in fact, got two, earning Griffindor 15 extra points in the inter-house championship. Neville had probably gotten 15 points total all five previous years, including the ten he'd received his first year. Professor Sprout treated the many minor wounds quickly with a drop of the tears, then excused them for the next class as the bell rang. br

       "Well that was fun," said Lily, who had escaped from class scratchless. br

       "WHAT?!" shouted Ron, who had forgotten to take his earplugs out and had little pieces of feathery moss in his hair. His ears turned pink as he jerked the earplugs out of place, Lily's laugh ringing around the grounds like a little silver bell. They headed down the sloping lawns, slowly, wondering what sort of creature Hagrid would have gotten them to study that day. br

      Hagrid was standing outside of his hut, Fang's booming barks muffled from inside. Most of the rest of the class had arrived. The Slytherins arrived last, Malfoy, flanked as always, by his thuggish friends Crabbe and Goyle, snuck up behind the four of them. Malfoy tapped Lily lightly on the shoulder and she jumped slightly, then turned to see what was up. She smiled, but faltered as she remembered the train ride. Malfoy seemed to have realized what she was upset with him about and leaned forward, whispering in his silky manner in her ear, "Sorry about the train ride. I just lost my temper after Potter here nearly broke my foot." Lily cast a disapproving look at Harry who felt wrath flash through his body. br

       "Only because _you tried to trip me!" he said, eyes narrowing. Sparks flew between them for a moment, both having hands held above their pockets, prepared to draw wands if they dared in front of Lily again. Luckily, Hagrid called them around to the back side of his house. br_

      There was a make-shift paddock in which was a creature Harry and seen once before. It was blocking his path in the third task maze of the Triwizard tournament. It had the body of a huge lion, golden and shining, but the head of an Asian looking woman… a sphinx. br

      Malfoy scoffed and whispered to Lily, "Can you believe this? He _never gives us a proper lesson." br_

      _ "I _think Hagrid is very nice and she's beautiful," Lily said, jerking her head towards the sphinx in an annoyed fashion, then turning, swinging her curls in Malfoy's face. Harry stifled a snigger. br

       "This is a sphinx," Hagrid said in a loud clear voice, "she is known as a beast on'y because she on'y talks in riddles and rhymes. Also, sphinx have bin known ter attack people who answer their riddles wrong." With this, Lavender shifted uncomfortably and stepped backwards, one of the ornamental chopsticks that were stuck through her bun falling. As she bent to pick it up the sphinx began to pace, turning her sharp almond shaped eyes at each student in turn. A small smile flickered across her face as she saw Harry and he wondered if this was the same sphinx he had met in the maze. "Thought we'd have a little competition today. Firs' person ter solve the sphinx's riddle wins their house 25 points and a prize." With this everyone's ears pricked up and all eyes turned to the sphinx, who sat down calmly, blinked and recited: br

          "_Now listen to my words br_

_            and to them do tend,br  _

_            it's not in the beginning br_

_           but it's the end of all ends. br br_

_            Next take a selfish boy br_

_           And from him you will learn br_

_           That the words this or that is br_

_           Are often followed with this term br br_

_             Now think of a sound br_

_             Used in surprised pain br_

_            Add the opposite of last in last br_

_           Good cause to work your brain. br br_

_          Last put them together, br_

_         To form one great sting br_

_         And you'll find an expression br_

_        That most find charming." br br_

      Harry racked his brain. He realized that last time he'd had a riddle and it'd mentioned all the stuff about ends it had been "_now tell me which is the first to mend, the middle of the middle or the end of the end."_ The letter had wound up being the d from the word 'spider'. Then it clicked. D was in the middle of the word 'middle' and the last letter in the word 'end,' so the end of all ends would be S, a letter that wasn't in the word 'beginning.' br

       "Could you repeat the second part?" Harry asked over the sound of people mumbling to themselves. The sphinx blinked and repeated herself. Well, selfish kids often say things are theirs, Harry thought. He'd had much experience in this because his cousin, Dudley, was a very selfish kid. It had to be something like mine, but 's-mine'? No, it had to be something close, like my. Now a sound someone would use when they were suddenly in pain. The sphinx yawned and stretched, showing off its immense teeth and claws and Lavender stepped back again, this time accidentally hitting Harry in the stomach. "Uh," he said, as her sharp skinny elbow came in contact with his diaphragm. He almost thanked Lavender as he realized that was the word. The opposite of last would be first and the first letter in last was an L. br

       "S-my-uh-l," he muttered so low no one could hear, to himself. br

      Suddenly Lily's hand shot into the air, seconds before Hermione's. Hagrid called on Lily and she said in a sure tone, "smile," then looked to the sphinx, who smiled broadly and nodded. br

       "Good job," said Hagrid, his beetle like eyes sparkling. He had taken an obvious liking to Lily, almost as strong as he had for Hermione, since meeting her after the train ride, "Yer a smar' girl." Lily tried to not look too pleased with his words, but she had taken a liking to Hagrid too and burst into a smile, looking up at him. br

      Hagrid led the class around to the front of his hut, and entered it quickly, returning with a miniature, moving model of a unicorn foal. He handed it gently to Lily and it pranced around in Lily's hand, tossing its golden mane and making a high pitched neighing noise. Hagrid had just finished telling Lily that the model would grow and change just as a unicorn would, turning first silver, then growing its horn, then turning such a blinding white that any other white next to it looked dim and dirty, when a booming bell rang over the grounds, signaling the end of lessons. br

       "That was brilliant, Lily," Ron gushed, looking at her with the deepest admiration. br

       "It really was nothing," she said, watching the unicorn as she carefully held her palm steady, "Harry gave me a lot of help when Lavender elbowed him." She smiled at Harry, making him feel slightly dizzy, him stomach jerking uncomfortably. "Do you want to see it?" she asked, tipping the unicorn into his hands, where it pawed and reared. She cupped her hand over his hand just for an instant, but it was enough to cause his stomach to jerk so violently that he thought he might be sick. He covered this by looking at the model with feigned interest. He had a similar model up in his dorm, but his was of the dragon he had tackled on his broomstick on the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. br

      After lunch, Lily ran to the dorm quickly to put away the model and then she, Harry and Ron headed toward the North tower for divination. They walked up the tightly spiraling staircase, talking mostly of quiddich, Lily seeming to know quite a lot more than any other girl Harry had ever met, until they finally reached a circular trap door with a silver ladder going up to it. Lily climbed up first, Harry following. She was climbing slowly, carefully and Harry looked up to make sure he wouldn't run into her, but quickly looked away, his heart in his throat. He had seen several more inches of leg than normal, ending in the edge of lacy, silk, midnight blue drawers. Ron gave Harry a look halfway between disapproval and amusement, and Harry felt like such a prig. Luckily Lily hadn't seen. br

      Once they were back on solid, even ground, Harry didn't feel much better. They were in a small circular room, stuffed with various chairs crowded around round tables and scarf covered lamps, a claustrophobic's nightmare. As ever, a blazing fire was making the room stiflingly hot and emitting a perfume that was sickly sweet and heavy. They took a seat in a cluster of chintz chair near the front but off to one side, having been led there by Lily. br

       "This is an awful lot of bells and whistles, it's very fakey, like she's trying to prove something. At Grimoire, our divination room was well lit and pleasantly crisp," Lily said, swaying slightly as if about to pass out. br

       "Ah, but this is quite different from Grimoire," said an airy voice right behind them all. They all turned to stare at the thin face so bespectacled that her eyes looked over large. Professor Trelawney was dressed in ornate robes tied with what looked like a golden rope and wearing entirely too much jewelry. "I sensed you were coming, dear, and you have a great clairvoyant energy about you. My inner eye tells me that you will be with us for a while." br  
      Lily smiled up at her and said, "I certainly hope so." br

      Then she turned to Harry and said mournfully, "Oh Harry, I fear that you won't be with us much longer though." She choked up very dramatically and swept to the front of the room, sitting in a large, winged chair. br

       "Odd woman," muttered Lily. br

       "The oddest," Ron agreed. br

       "My most treasured, it is time for us to learn the fine art of tarot. What may seem like just a deck of cards, can unlock gates of the unknown that humans have been trapped behind. Of course, like all divination, it takes a true seer to properly hold the key…" Harry's mind wandered into a dull stupor. The fumes were clouding his mind and he felt like he couldn't have formed a complete thought if he tried. What seemed like seconds later, Lily tapped him lightly on the shoulder. br

       "W-what?" Harry said, coming to. br

       "We've been asked to come to the front of the class," Lily whispered, standing and straightening her skirt. They wove their way through the poufs as Lavender and Paravati shot Lily envious looks; they both greatly admired Professor Trelawney and swallowed all her bull. Eventually they came to a stop by Professor Trelawney's winged chair, where she conjured a table, two chairs and a stack of what looked like overly large cards. As she directed them, Lily and Harry sat facing each other, Harry's back to the class. br

       "Now, if you would, link hands, there you go, so Lily can get a proper sense of your aura, Harry…" Lily gave his hand a little squeeze and rolled her eyes at whatever Trelawney was saying. Harry had blocked her out. There was only him and Lily. He rubbed his thumb up and down her hand, feeling her soft skin, but before he wanted it to end, she had taken her hands out of his and begun cutting the deck. She flipped some cards over in two rows and Professor Trelawney started talking again. br

       "AHH the seven swords, ooh the king card." She exclaimed sadly after every card was flipped. Lily was looking at Harry at all anymore, She was staring at the cards, in a trancelike state. br

       "It's clear what this leads up to…. DEATH." Lavender and Paravati took their breath in sharply, making a short hissing noise of shock, but Harry would've been more worried if she hadn't made the exact same prediction a hundred times before. He was about to tell her this, but he was distracted when Lily's eye lids fell slowly and she spoke in an oddly far off tone. br

       "That's not what I see. I see a love entering his life, causing him great pain, hidden feelings, desire." Her tone changed and eye brows furrowed, "I see violence, and enemy, but a happy resolution…" her big blue eyes opened, but they had an unfocused, dreamy quality about them. Suddenly they snapped back into focus and she shook her head, blinking several times in rapid succession. br

       "Oh but you didn't see what comes after that resolution? Just as Harry is at his highest moment, life will be wiped from his body," Professor Trelawney said, sounding very upset at Lily. br

       "No I didn't," Lily said coldly, almost defiantly. br

       "Well," Trelawney said, her tone changing as she lost her misty ways, "I guess you just don't have the gift of being a true seer." Lily had clearly gone into a true trance and hadn't agreed with Professor Trelawney, and she always got rather sharp after being proven wrong. Apparently, though, by the way Lily's eyes flashed dangerously, she had said the wrong thing. br

       "Well, it's quite clear that you can't spot a seer, even if she goes into a trance right in front of you. I bet you've never made a true prediction in your entire life! I'm sorry Professor, but this class is a huge waste of my time. What's the point in staying in a place where the teacher is so messed up that she passes screeching death and a lot of bangles off as being a seer?!" br

      How Lily managed to stop there, Harry would never know. Lily looked like she could rant on all afternoon, but perhaps it was the fact that Lily's infrequent rages were short lived or maybe the look of total outrage that Lavender and Paravati were giving her, or maybe a mixture of both, but at any rate, she silenced her self. Professor Trelawney didn't seem to be able to find anything to say back, and they stood, staring at each other, the room perfectly silent for a minute before the bell rang.  Everyone got up, reluctant to leave in case Lily started in again. As Lily turned to leave, Professor Trelawney reached out her hand with long claw-like nails and latched on to Lily's arm, hissing, "I _will be seeing McGonagall about you." br_

       "and _I," Lily said, retching her arm free and spinning to face her, "won't be setting foot back in this cluttered room again, whether you tell Professor McGonagall or not." She turned and stalked from the room. Harry nervously stood up, chair squeaking and Trelawney turning to glare at him, as if looking for a scapegoat to unload all her anger on. Harry bolted from the room, and caught up to Lily, clutching his side he was laughing so hard. br_

      At dinner that's all the four of them and their close neighbors talked about, though Lily seemed embarrassed at her outburst. Hermione didn't seem too happy that Lily was, once again, the center of attention, or that she would be joining her in Arithmacy, but laughed just as hard as any of them at Harry's rendition of the fight. Hermione, too, had walked out on Professor Trelawney, in their third year, and it was nice to think that Hermione and Lily had enough in common that perhaps they might be friends. br

      After dinner, Harry, Ron and Hermione took Lily on a tour of the grounds. She seemed particularly interested in the quidditch field. She explained later in the common room that she had played chaser at her old school since her 2nd year. Harry was delighted because that meant that she would take Angelina Johnson's place on the team. They talked well into the night but headed off to bed around eleven, where Harry lay awake, thinking about Lily and unable to lose the smell of her perfume.  br


	4. The First Date

                               Chapter Four- The First Date brbr****

       The days flew by, for Harry just a blurred string of homework, classes, and long nights in the common room with his friends, with a few bright moments standing out, like the time Malfoy got a bad burn off a fire breathing dragonfish in Care of Magical Creatures. Lily had, true to her promise, switched to Arithmacy, after which Hermione declared her to be a huge showoff, meaning that Lily had either proven her wrong or had once again beat her to answering a hard question. She never got in trouble for yelling at Professor Trelawney, so Harry could only assume the old bat hadn't told Professor McGonagall. She was, however, being even more horrible to Harry, predicting his death daily now, with a tone that implied that if he didn't drop soon, she'd kill him herself. br

      Lily, it turned out was quite intelligent, and had her hand up in class every bit as often as Hermione. The weird thing was, Harry never saw her crack a non-fiction book except for homework, and she never fussed Ron or himself about homework. She was like Hermione, but minus the annoying qualities, which she'd only been showing more and more often now that she was a prefect, in the fashion of Ron's brother, Percy, when he had been made prefect. Lily was full of laughs but never demanded attention and appreciated other people's sense of humor. She was opinionated but not abrasive, kind, thoughtful and bubbly. There was only one word to describe her, _perfect_. But even that wasn't true; she had just enough flaws that she wasn't annoying, but so few Harry hardly noticed them. br

      Harry, unluckily but predictably, wasn't the only one to notice her. Although he and Ron were always around her, it didn't stop other guys from approaching, flirting, even asking her out. Lily, though, made it clear she wasn't looking, although she was never rude or haughty about it. To all appearances, she had no idea how great she was. Lily was well adjusted too. By the 2nd week of classes, she was leading the way to all of them and her near constant presence chased away all worries of Voldemort from Harry's mind. br

      Quite a friendship was blossoming between Lily and the rest of the group. As Halloween came and went, Ron and even Hermione accepted her into part of their group, and the trio quickly became in inseparable ensemble. They shared almost all their secrets with her, telling her all about their pasts and adventures so far at Hogwarts, hiding only Hermione's jealousy that was slowly disappearing, and the Harry's liking for her; Ron had apparently given up, turning his awkward affections back to Hermione, but still looking slightly envious when Lily gave Harry extra attention. br

      However this happened quite often as a different sort of bond formed between Harry and Lily. As autumn dawned, they were spending virtually every waking moment together, between classes, quidditch practice, and cozy private post-quidditch practice homework sessions. They had the best team in years, rivaling even the team before they had lost Oliver Wood, replaced by Dean Thomas, and Fred and George Weasley, replaced by Ron and Seamus, all of whom were every bit as good, if not better, as their predecessors. Also Lily was a brilliant chaser and Harry, who had been made captain the year before was thrilled with her. They killed Hufflepuff in the first game of the season 270 to 20, Hufflepuff's worst defeat in half a century. Ernie McMillian wouldn't talk to Harry or Lily for a week. In the 2nd match Harry had caught the snitch just ten minutes into the game, diving and zooming straight across the field scattering people left and right, Malfoy lagging a good ten feet behind, unable to catch up, as he had just been ploughed after Harry performed the trick Wronski Feint for the first time. To everyone in the stands he was just a flash of scarlet reaching out for a flash of gold. However they had already scored three goals thanks to Lily's amazing tactics and quick thinking and the fact that Harry had finally learned that play. br

      If it had been just that though, Ron's voice wouldn't have been concealing bitterness again and Hermione wouldn't have been screeching that Lily was a hussy every time her back was turned. The fact of the matter was that all the time Lily and Harry were spending together was catching up to them. They were sweet on each other, Lily now as much as Harry. Their conversation was slowly turning to past boyfriends of Lily's, dating, what they liked in the opposite gender, pretty much just describing each other, and even a little embarrassed sex talk. They were accidentally brushing up against each other more and more, leaning closer to one another and complimenting the other constantly. That's how they found themselves one Tuesday night early in December. br

      They had just had a particularly rough quidditch session because Harry had some pent up energy, the last one of the season. The first snow was floating down slowly outside the common room windows as they were sitting at a table, side by side, inches apart, leaning in and reading from the same Defense Against the Dark Arts book. Lupin, who it turned out had been teaching on a favor for both Sirius, who was out gathering witches and wizards for the fight against Voldemort and couldn't keep an eye on Harry, and Dumbledore, who was unable to find a new teacher, was once again teaching them about dangerous demons and beasts. The current species they were writing about was an Ocatarian, a dinosaur sized bird demon that inhabited most forests and could only be brought down by a curse done by a dozen wizards or more.  They were sitting so close to each other that they could feel the heat radiating off the others face. Lily reached to turn the page, but Harry, not being ready, had instinctively covered her hand to stop her. There was an awkward moment, but Harry didn't remove his hand. Lily looked from it to Harry and their eyes locked. Months of tension and flirting showed as both their eyes shone. They leaned in slowly and just before their lips met, Hermione, who had been playing chess with Ron, cleared her throat loudly. Both turned away at the last second and looked embarrassedly back at the book. br

       "So you two, excited about this weekend?" Ron asked, either trying to break the romantic moment or alleviate their embarrassment, probably both. The next weekend was the first trip to Hogsmede, the only all-wizarding village in Britian, "I'm going to try to get all my Christmas shopping done there," he continued. br

       "Yeah," Lily said, "it'll be nice to be able to do something normal away from Hogwarts." Of course, growing up in an all-wizard city in America, what was normal to her would be freakishly abnormal to any muggle. br

       "Oh, you'll have such a great time," said Hermione, her words with a sharp icy edge. br

       "Yeah," Lily said cautiously, her eyes open a little wider than normal, staring at Hermione. She signed her report with a flourish and said, "Done," pulling the Arithmacy book toward her. She opened the book and began writing quickly, but flowingly, instead of the jerky consistency she often got when doing Arithmacy because she stopped to think every few seconds. As she pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and dipped her quill back in her ink, she gave Harry a meaningful look and slid the spare piece under Harry's report. He looked at in and read silently: br

               Do you want to go to hogsmeade together? br

Harry scribbled back: br

            What do you mean together? br

Lily sighed and wrote: br

             Like on a date br

      Harry finally got what she was saying, feeling like a total idiot, but let her know by leaning closer and slipping his arm around her waist, She giggled and went back to her Arithmacy, not bothering to remove his arm. She finished it within minutes and slammed her book shut, yawning loudly. Harry to the hint that time and led her to the dorms Outside the door she turned, facing him and simply said, "I can't wait." She smiled and went into the dorm., leaving Harry feeling like he had expected more. brbr

      Just as time won't slow down when you're dreading something, it just as staunchly won't speed up when you're looking forward to something. Harry was in agony through the rest of the week. Snape's lesson, the afternoon of Friday was particularly terrible. Malfoy had been even worse every time Lily wasn't paying attention, probably trying to make up for the way he had to act when she was around. Unfortunately Snape had surmised that Lily made Harry happy, so had separated them, moving her across the dungeon to sit with Lavender and moved Paravati next to Harry. The arrangement could've been worse but it wasn't very pleasant as it was because Paravati had been very cool towards Harry ever since he had ignored her at the last Yule Ball. br

      The time crawled by as Malfoy shot Harry dirty looks as he chopped up a stalk of St. Cecilia's Blood, a deep red plant they were using in a clotting potion. He kept flicking the tiny frog's livers at Harry also, but if Harry retaliated, Snape would've given him a detention, probably on the next afternoon so Harry couldn't go to Hogsmede. Harry amused himself by pretending he was cutting up Malfoy's body instead of the plant that kept squirting a coppery smelling liquid everywhere. br

      Eventually, though, time did pass and Harry was very relieved to get out of the room. Harry waited for Lily by the door and they walked to the hall for dinner together arms touching, much to the delight of Harry and the anger of Malfoy, who glared at Harry so hard that Harry doubted he could see at all. br

      The house elves, who Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lily had gone to see the first week, Lily to ask about the food, and the other three to visit their old friends Dobby and Winky, had since been making their variety of food more exotic. Besides having added several kinds of cereal to the table each morning, Harry trying them out and finding them quite bland or over sugary, they had a few days each week where they would make food from a different country. That week they'd had Italian food, then American cuisine, which Lily ate with great relish, although most people thought the food was extremely greasy. However, today they had prepared Mandarin Chinese food. Harry thought it looked quite disgusting, but seeing Lily dig in, ladling what looked like brown rice with chunks of vegetables in it, he hesitantly speared some chunks of chicken covered in a thick orange sauce. He picked one up with his fork, looking it over before popping it into his mouth. A flood of sweet yet tangy flavor filled his mouth as he chewed slowly, it was almost overcoming. He swallowed and looked back at the rest of the small pile, wondering if it would be too flavorful for him. br

       He must've had a funny look on his face because Lily giggled saying, "You know, you're supposed to mix those with white rice, not just eat them by themselves." She handed him a pot of steamed rice and he spooned some onto his plate, cutting up his chicken and feeling stupid. He often felt stupid in Lily's presence, but he didn't mind it so much. It was completely different from the stupid he felt while with Hermione. He wondered how two girls so similar could have completely opposite effects on him. br

      After dinner the four of them went up to the common room and had a game of exploding snap, Hermione winning spectacularly as the Lily's card blew up in her hand right before she was about to place it down, winning the game. Lily, luckily, was unhurt but Hermione couldn't stop smiling unpleasantly all night as she remembered the shocked look on Lily's face. br

      The next day dawned bright and sunny, and the feeling of anticipation was thick within the Griffindor common room. Everyone always looked forward to going to Hogsmeade. It had everything, the largest candy store any of them had ever seen, Zonko's joke shop, where many of the students stocked up on joke treats and props, and now the joke shop Fred and George had started up, thanks to the thousand galleons Harry had given them two years before. The students were most excited to get to that one because Fred and George had been famous trouble makers all throughout their years at Hogwarts. Just the year before they had been selling their trick sweets to the school, and apparently they had been hard at work, all summer, inventing new things. Once they reached Hogsmeade, Lily and Hermione split off and Harry and Ron stayed together, planning on meeting back at the Three Broomsticks at noon. Neither Harry nor Ron was sure that this was such a good idea, but soon they were so caught up in shopping that they forgot all about the girls. br

      First they went to Weasley's Wizarding Weezes, the name of Fred and George's joke shop. It was positioned right next to Zonko's but had far more costumers even though it was about half the size, though both had roaring trade. Ron and Harry somehow managed to push their way up to the counter through the hoards of people who were milling around inside. Fred was at the counter and his face lit up as he saw his brother. br

       "I was wondering when you'd be visiting us," he said, pulling George over by him. br

       "Nice digs, huh?" George said, motioning around the shop. In every spare inch was stuffed with fake wands, fireworks, and candies that made you turn into various animals. br

       "We're going to have to move into a bigger store soon," George said gleefully as a pretty blonde saleslady that didn't look much older than the twins came up and slipped her arm around him. "This is Bridgette," he explained, seeing the looks on their faces. br

       "Hello," she said, smiling brightly, "You must be Ron, and you, Harry. I've heard so much about you both." After a few minutes of conversation, they slipped off and looked around more. br

       "She's George's girlfriend, Fred and Angelina are still dating too," Ron explained, examining a trick wand that turned into a giant slimy slug, making a loud squelching noise. He seemed downtrodden that his brothers had girlfriends, while he was still single, although neither of them had dated much in school. "That's all mum talks about, how well Fred and George are doing, how Fred is getting ready to propose." Ron's mother had spoken out adamantly against the joke shop idea, but apparently gave up her reluctance now that they were doing well. br

       "Don't sound so happy for them," Harry said, examining brightly wrapped candies that he knew to be Ton-Tongue Toffees, a very dangerous sweet that made the victims tongue grow up to four feet long, as he had seen on his pudgy cousin Dudley the summer before his 4th year. br

       "It's just that, well, Percy's been promoted, he's head of his department in the Ministry of Magic now, Bill and Charlie have always been doing well, and now Fred and George. Even Ginny's head of her class. I just feel like…" He trailed off and Harry knew exactly what he was trying to say. Ron had always felt a little lost in his family. br

       "Well it's not exactly like you don't do well, Ron." Said Harry comfortingly and it was true. Ron was now the class clown, although he managed to escape punishment better than Fred and George, was pulling great marks, and was an excellent beater. br

      After that Ron cheered up and they stopped by the screaming shack, where several 3rd year students were standing around, arguing if they should go in. Ron and Harry smiled at each other, knowing that the only reason people thought it was haunted was because that was where Professor Lupin, when he was back at school, used to go on full moons to prevent himself from harming students when he turned into a werewolf. Ron, a mischievous gleam in his eye, snuck up behind them, the 3rd years not noticing because they were staring intently at the building and yelled. They all screamed hysterically, running down the street, and they walked away, chuckling to themselves. br

       "That wasn't very nice," said a high, sarcastically scornful voice. Harry spun and stared into Lily's smiling face. "You could've scared the poor dears out of their wits." br

      Harry looked from her, smiling even more broadly to Hermione, who looked particularly contemptuous, and down the street, where the 3rd years were gathering again, giggling at their foolishness. br

       "Oh come now, Hermione. There wasn't any harm done. Look at them," Ron said, gesturing to the group of girls who were now giggling even louder and making eyes at Ron and Harry. Hermione cast them a dark stare and they all quieted, clamping their mouths shut and passing the four of them, holding their heads high but bursting into giggles again as soon as they passed. br

       "I thought we were supposed to meet in the Three Broomsticks over an hour from now." Harry said, checking his new watch he'd gotten from Ron over the summer. This watch, unlike most in the wizarding world, could tell time, and Harry had a sneaking suspicion Ron had gotten it from his dad, who loved toying with muggle stuff. So far it had been submerged in a bath for over an hour when Harry forgot to take it off as he messed around in the prefects bathroom, it had been smashed under the insanely heavy potions book and had fallen off Harry's wrist over 50 feet in the air onto hard, nearly frozen ground, and hadn't shattered. br

"Well we got all our shopping done already," Lily said, brandishing a bag but then hiding it quickly as Harry read out loud 'Quality Quidditch Supplies.' His face burned as he realized that Ron and he hadn't even begun shopping for the girls' Christmas presents. br

       "We, well… we," Ron said, not wanting to admit the above. br

       "It's okay you know, Hermione and I can just walk around for a bit more and meet you two back at the pub in another hour," Lily suggested. Hermione nodded vigorously, smiling the first genuine smile she'd used in Lily's presence. br

       "O- Okay," Ron said hesitantly, shooting Hermione a puzzled, but approving look. They parted and took off again. br

       "What are we going to get the girls??" Ron said, a note of panic in his voice. "I'm sure Lily would appreciate something from the joke shop, but Hermione's so hard!" br

       "Oh yeah, I can just picture it, 'Here you go Lily, a bag of dungbombs, Merry Christmas.' Real romantic Ron!" Harry said sarcastically. br

       "Well you think of something!" Ron said. br

       "Hmm. We sound probably go to the book shop for Hermione, the joke shop would be good for a gift from you, but we're going to need to go to a, I don't know, jewelry store or something for Lily, from me." Harry said knowledgably, wondering when he had begun to think that way. br

       "Well I've never seen any jewelry stores around here before…" Ron said, spinning around, looking for a shop. "Wait a second, what about here." He stopped, suddenly, facing a store with an ornate sign reading 'Glademere's Gifts- the one-of-a-kind gift stop'. br

       "Sounds perfect," said Harry, rushing forward. br

      They pushed through a heavy gold door, opening into a large shop, packed to the brim with all sorts of things neither Harry nor Ron had ever seen. Along one wall were shelves and shelves of miniature moving models, pacing back and forth. Ron walked down the row ahead of him, barely glancing at the models until he exclaimed, picking up one, "HARRY GET DOWN HERE!" br

      Harry rushed over to him to see what he had found and looked into his palm seeing a model of a tall and skinny 16 year old boy with black hair and dazzling green eyes walking across it, a tiny six-inch tall model of _himself_. Harry stared at it and it stopped, dead still, staring up at him. Ron chuckled and put it back, continuing to move down the line, but Harry stayed, staring at the minute model. He'd known that he was famous, every wizard knew his name, but he'd never thought he'd see the day when he was an action figure. He didn't like the idea of someone having him sitting on their dresser like a collector's item and scooped it into his hand, intending to buy it. If this truly was a one-of-a-kind gift, then he would never have to worry about anyone having him on a shelf again. br

      He continued to move down the row, catching up with Ron, then onto the next wall. The store was so packed with unique things that he felt like he could stay there all day. Pretty soon, however they both found what they were looking for, Ron getting Hermione a stack of deep blue parchment complete with shining silver ink and a quill which read on the front 'Nora Newman's Insta-note Parchment,' the perfect gift for Hermione and a book on Lily's, and now Harry's favorite quidditch team, the Midwestern Manticores. On the front cover stood seven players, four of them women all looking very burly and holding Firebolts. Harry, while examining the jewelry found a tiny, perfect model of the galaxy in a tiny glass orb on a fragile silver chain for Lily and got Hermione a pensieve, since she was often complaining of headaches from all the thoughts she'd build up. Hermione never trusted diaries since their second year, when Ginny Weasley had been controlled by a diary in which was captured the memory of Lord Voldemort as a 16 year old boy. Glancing down at his watch, Harry noticed that they only had five more minutes until they had to meet Lily and Hermione, so he hurried to the counter and paid for his items. br

       They were out the door and halfway to The Three Broomsticks, Harry grabbing the figurine out of the bag, preparing to chuck it in the nearest trash when a cold, silky voice said behind him, "Couldn't resist buying that figure, could you Potter? Figured that way you could look at your scar-faced self whenever you wanted to, even if you didn't have a mirror? I didn't think even _you_ could sink that level of big headedness." br

      Harry spun, facing the sneering face of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggering stupidly behind him. They cracked their knuckles threateningly when Harry shot them a glare over Malfoy's shoulder, but he held a hand up to them, saying, "I think it's time Potter and I had a proper duel. The prize: Lily." br

      White hot rage shot through Harry from head to foot, and his hand balled into a fist. "I don't think Lily would much like being the object of a bet, Malfoy," Harry said malevolently, but nevertheless pulling out his wand, "She wouldn't encourage fighting, but if you insist on completely ruining your chances with her, not that you had any ever, mind you," he spat. Malfoy, looking like he'd been slapped in the face, pulled out his wand. A small crowd of people was gathering, being careful to keep their distance from the two of them, but Harry ignored them. Ron was standing behind Harry, his second, and Crabbe had stepped up behind Malfoy. br

       "We'll see how much of a chance I have with her after you're out of the picture, Potter." They gave a short bow and took ten steps away from each other, spinning, wands up as the crowd held their breath. Ron counted down, "Three, two…"br

       "If you two are about done…" came a strong, high voice, with a sharp edge on it. Harry turned and saw Lily, arms crossed and eyes blazing, foot tapping impatiently as she glared at the two of them. Harry heard a swift wooshing noise and everything suddenly went black. brbr

      He woke up suddenly, staring up at Lily's ashen face, eyes crinkled with concern. Ron and Hermione were leaning over too, though looking more angry than anything. br

       "Wha- what happened?" Harry asked, feeling his head where a large bump was rising. br

       "Well Malfoy stunned you when your back was turned. Rotten thing to do, but I think he just didn't realize that you two were stopping. What do you think you're doing dueling in the middle of a street anyways?" Lily said, her eyes turned instantly from kindness and concern to anger. br

       "We weren't really thinking about it…"Harry said offhandedly, then, anger surging through him again he said. "Where is that little rat anyways, I'd like to…"br

       "He took off, that filthy coward," Ron said, cutting him off. Lily stood up and helped him up rather more roughly than she would have normally. Hermione looked relieved that he was okay as they rose and Harry brushed himself off.  The crowd that had gathered dispersed under a furious glare Hermione gave them all, mumbling to themselves. br

      The four of them headed off to the Three Broomsticks, Ron calling Malfoy some names that both Lily and Hermione scolded him for and Harry feeling like a total idiot for what he did. He hadn't realized how many people could've gotten hurt, or even that Malfoy was the type of person that would take a cheap shot like that. He could've gotten hurt, or worse, Lily could've gotten hurt. There was a sudden coolness in the way Lily was treating him that only vanished after a warm butterbeer and a long explanation of exactly what happened. All Lily's anger seemed to turn towards Malfoy as she called him, to the delight of Harry, a few of the names she had been so appalled at minutes before. Harry had never heard Lily curse, but even that had a charming effect playing on her soft lips. They were seated in the corner of the three broomsticks, eating sandwiches they had just ordered and mulling over the day. Lily slipped her hand into Harry's under the table and a flush rose to his face, his hand tingling in hers. Now that the excitement had worn down he realized that he hadn't spent a single moment alone with her since they arrived, although this was supposed to be their very first date. The noon sun filtered through the windows and Harry, though he was enjoying himself, would have liked nothing better than to be alone with Lily at the moment. br

       "Well guys," Lily said, giving Harry's hand a light squeeze, "how would you like to switch partners? Harry and I can go shopping for you two and vice versa." She posed the question so innocently that it might have seemed just a suggestion, but with a knowing note to it that meant that she thought Hermione and Ron needed as much time alone together and she and Harry did. A mutual, grateful smile passed between Hermione and Lily. br

       "Sure! I mean… sure," said Ron, doing a poor job of masking his excitement. br

      Lily smiled and gave Hermione a short wave as they stood and left, walking closer than normal, much closer. br

       "What exactly did you and Hermione talk about while we were gone?" Harry said, surprised at her suddenly warming up to Ron. br

       "That's her business," she said mysteriously, then quickly changed the subject. "Where should we go first. I was thinking Ron's brother's store for his present and maybe a nice book for Hermione," she said, giggling. She reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out the tiny figure of Harry, which he hadn't even realize he'd lost. He supposed he must have dropped it when he pulled out his wand. "Do you want this back?" Lily said, holding it out to him. br

       "Why?" Harry said, "Do you want it?" There was an awkward moment before Lily answered. br

       "Well, I like it. It'd be like having you around me all the time, but if you want it…" br

       "No, you can keep it. I was going to throw it out anyways." For some reason he didn't seem to mind Lily having the figure and his head was spinning trying to search for the not so hidden meaning in what she was saying. She slipped the figure carefully back into her pocket and stood up. br

       "Well, okay, thanks. You don't need to get me a Christmas present now. Let's see, book shop first or Weasley's Wizarding Weezes?" br

       "The book store, and I'm still getting you a present you know; I would've gotten that no matter what, but I'm happy you got it." br

      She smiled under his compliment and they headed off to the book store. After only a few minutes of browsing in the book store, Harry watching Lily as her delicate fingers shifted through book after book she pulled a thick glossy volume off the shelf and bought it, pulling a handful of galleons out of her pockets and paying quickly. When they entered the joke shop Fred and George looked up then did a double take and Harry put his arm around Lily's waist, smiling at them. They looked surprised but gave him a half covered thumbs up and a roguish wink. They finished their shopping there quickly, Lily looking hurt as Fred and George ducked out of the way, sending Bridgette to ring them up. br

      Only having a few spare coins left, they headed back to Hogwarts, passing Hermione and Ron who were sitting in front of the post office. Harry moved to go and talk to them, but Lily stopped him by putting her hand on his arm lightly. He looked up and she gave him a meaningful look. When he looked back Ron and Hermione were leaning very close together, Ron's hand on top of Hermione's on her leg. Harry and Lily rushed away with a swish of their cloaks as their lips met, not bothering to look back at them, but Lily trying to contain a smile. br

        After witnessing that, Harry had a nagging feeling he wanted to tell Lily something, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Afraid to even try to articulate what he was feeling, yet feeling that anything else he said would be pointless, he let Lily's steady flow of chatter flow over him, calming him and lulling him into a state where it was just Harry, Lily and his thoughts and her, her hand firmly clasped in his. Before he knew it, they were back at Hogwarts, and the sun was low in the sky, as it set quite early at that time of the year. Even though it was nearly five, Harry's stomach was jumping too much to even allow him to dream of food. It was a good three hours before they had to be back to the dorms, and Harry could think of no way he'd rather spend it than with Lily, but he felt like he had to do something romantic, make a gesture of his feelings for her. Somehow saying that, right in the middle of the steady flow of students now entering the school just didn't seem right. br

      Before he'd even completely formed the idea in his head, and before he knew what he was saying, he heard himself mutter, "Do y- Do you want to go on a ride?" br

      Lily's eyes lit up and she said simply, nervously, "yeah." br

      Harry called his broom to him and they both climbed on, Lily's arms firmly clasped around Harry's waist. He kicked off and they soared into the air, their robes flying behind them and the only thoughts filling his mind how natural Lily's arms felt around him and amazement at the fact that his broom could hold two people. They soared over the castle, over the slow trickle of people now arriving for dinner, around the lake, along the edge of the forest. Lily gave a sigh of contentment and leaned her head against Harry's shoulder and he temporarily lost concentration, the broom swerving suddenly, causing Lily to squeeze Harry's chest more tightly. br

       "It's so beautiful," Lily commented, looking out into the lake which was reflecting the colors of the clear sunset off the ice. "When I was little my dad used to take me on broomstick rides, when I was too young to ride myself. Just don't do what he did. He used to flip over with me on with him." br

       "Don't worry," Harry said huskily, then with a playful glint in his eye, he grabbed onto one of Lily's hands and did a quick barrel roll, her short half laugh half scream piercing the night. Harry laughed as he guided the broom down to the edge of the lake, and sped across it as fast as he could go, the air displacement sending a shower of glittering frost into the air. Turning quickly around he sped the opposite direction then shot straight up in the air, Lily grabbing onto the broomstick and his waist more tightly to avoid falling. In the air he straightened out and did slow, ever widening circles in the air, finally landing with a thump in the middle of the deserted quidditch field.  br

      Lily clambered off, laughing so hard she was struggling for breath and fell backwards into the snow, her body making a foot deep imprint. She waved her arms and legs and Harry helped her up, both of them turning to admire her work, a perfect snow angel. She vainly tried to brush the snow off herself, but little snow balls still clung to her hair, shining gold in the last light of dusk. Harry thought she'd never looked more beautiful. She smiled shyly under his gaze and looked down. br

       "Lily… Lily-I" Harry began, struggling for words. She looked up at him, her clear blue eyes shining and saying everything he was struggling to in one look. He smiled and pulled her towards him, kissing her and running his hands through her soft curls. Her hand floated up and rested on his neck, sending shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with the weather. They kissed with all the passion they'd been holding back. Parting, Lily laid her head on his chest, her breath rising in a fine mist before his face. He wrapped his arm around her and held her until she started shivering with cold. Harry, feeling stupid for leaving her out in ten degree weather, still covered in snow, for so long, climbed back on his broomstick, her behind him and brought her back to the entrance to the castle. After a brief stop over in the common rooms they headed to the dining room, still open for a few hours. They put their arms firmly around one another and walked into the Great Hall, ignoring the glares of the Slytherins, particularly Malfoy, and the disappointed looks that most of the guys, and indeed some girls, were shooting the pair. They settled down opposite to Ron and Hermione, both pairs' faces shining with the exact same, knowing, look. br****


	5. The Yule Ball

Chapter Five- The Yule Ball br br

       The rest of the weeks slid by as the two couples became even closer. All four of them thought that fate had come up with the best possible combinations, and all traces of jealousy or dislike vanished as Hermione and Lily became best of friends. The two couples shared everything with each other and, while making sure to get plenty of alone time, spent much time together, even though the relationships were quite different. Ron and Hermione had the love/hate relationship that often ensues from a good friendship. Whenever they weren't play fighting they were real fighting, or making up from a fight. Harry and Lily however had a very meaningful bond that need not be spoken as it often happens when there's a smooth, fast translation between friend and crush and girlfriend/boyfriend. The boys stopped flocking to Lily and to Harry's surprise, some girls were giving Lily cold glares in the hallways, Paravati Patil among them. Lily never noticed just as long as Harry was with her. br

      Both of them had picture perfect relationships of their own type, or at least they thought they did, but just a week before the holiday's began, something came up that neither pair expected. br

      One day at the end of dinner, Harry, Lily, Ron and Hermione arrived in the common room to see a group of students huddled around the bulletin board. They pushed their way through to see a highly decorated poster up, announcing the date of the Yule Ball and what was expected. Reading quickly through, Harry saw that it was essentially the same as the year of the Triwizard tournament. Ginny was so excited her voice was at a fevered pitch, and before she reached a squeal Ron snapped at her to shut up. Ginny looked hurt and walked away, head down, only to be stopped and asked to the dance by Collin Creevey. Collin and Ginny had taken quite a liking to each other, both being members of Harry's unorganized fan club, and Ginny said yes before he'd even finished his sentence. Ron looked at Hermione, smiling and said with a sarcastically formal voice "Hermione Elizabeth Granger, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?" To Harry's surprise, Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat and opened her mouth, then shut it quickly. She seemed to be thinking of the best way to let him down. br

      Just as Hermione managed to say "yes," Lily seized Harry's arm and dragged him out of the common room. Harry heard Hermione tack on a "but…" before she shut the portrait hole quickly and pulled Harry down the hallway. br

       "What was that about," Harry said, as he heard raised voices through the wall. 

      Lily looked at Harry, panting slightly from the effort of pulling him, and said, "Hermione invited Krum." br

       "WHAT??!!" Harry said. Hermione didn't seem the type of girl who would cheat on someone at all, and most of all, not that quickly. br

       "Well you know how she and Krum were kind of together last year? Well she promised him that she'd invite him to stay over at her house on the holidays. That was of course before they broke up…" Hermione and Krum had broken up shortly before the start of the term. No one ever knew why, but they could gather that Hermione had broken up with Krum, "but she refused to break her promise to him. So she figured she could invite him to the Yule ball, and he could stay in Hogsmeade since it wouldn't be appropriate for a 19 year old to be staying at her house anyways. Of course, they'd had this all settled before she and Ron got together, and she can't go back on her word now, and I really hope he's not too mad. They aren't even going _together,_ just as friends, and he'll be a 5th wheel. She'll still be actually _going with Ron." br_

        Harry's head spun. How could Ron not be mad? It didn't matter if they were going as friends or as a couple, the very fact that Hermione's ex-boyfriend was going to be at the Yule Ball, with Hermione, and Ron, was just, just, ludicrous. "Well, we're at least going together right?" said Harry, trying to grasp for something sane. br

      The second shock of the night came to him as Lily looked down, took a deep sigh and said, "I-I, um, I can't, Harry, I just can't." br

       "WHAT?!" Harry said, his confusion bursting from his mouth as anger, "What do you mean you _can't.  Are you messing around too? What did you find another date? Am I not good enough for you anymore?" His voice rung through the hallway and several 5th year Slytherin girls paused, listening then continued on sniggering. "You think that just because you've got every guy in this school after you that you can just go with whoever you want??? DO YOU?!" br_

       Harry had completely lost control. He didn't stop until he looked at Lily. Her big blue eyes had an odd glint to them and large tears were rolling over her eyelashes and down her cheeks. Harry stopped dead. He'd never made anyone cry that he knew of, much less someone that he cared about that much. He felt absolutely like he swallowed a lead weight as he looked at Lily, looking like an angel standing there crying. He reached out to her, to try to say sorry, but she swept past him and into the common room, leaving Harry in the hallway. He sank down to the floor and put his head in his hands, wondering what he'd done. brbr

      After what seemed like hours he stood up on wobbly legs and made his way back into to common room. Neither Ron nor Hermione nor Lily were in there, although a lot of the house was, the girls talking excitedly and the guys avoiding all contact with them. A hush ensued as Harry entered, but he heard a buzz start up again as he climbed the stairs to his dormitory. It was empty all except for Ron who was lying face down on the bed. Harry flung himself on his bed and laid there for a minute, then turned over and asked Ron, "So what happened?" br

      Ron looked up with a look of pure misery on his face saying, "She's invited Krum. I can't believe it, she's invited Krum." br

       "I know that, but what did you do?" br

       "What do you think I did? I yelled, the only reaction I could think of. She yelled back, then she ran up to the common room. Harry, what am I going to do? I really like Hermione, I might even love her, but _KRUM??!! The last thing I need is another guy threatening me." He looked over at Harry miserably, then, as if just noticing Harry's identical look asked, "What's up with you?" br_

       "Lily's not going to the Yule Ball with me and before I even let her explain, I made a total prat of myself and started yelling at her. I made her _cry, Ron," Harry said, moaning and throwing himself back on the bed. br_

       "I almost wish Hermione had cried, she just yelled and hurled insults back at me. Do you think it could turn out okay if Krum came?" Ron asked, as if searching for a compromise. br

       "Do you have a choice?" Harry asked, finally resigning himself to the fact that he didn't have much of a choice either. br

       "I guess not. Do you think we should go make up with the girls?" br

       "I guess so. I mean, Hermione's always talking about how we have to talk things out every time _we fight, I suppose it works the same way with the girls." br_

      They stood up and tramped their way up and downstairs through the common room then up a flight and down another flight of stairs, their feet weighed down as if on the way to their execution. When they finally reached the dormitory they knocked lightly and Ginny stuck her head and flaming red hair out. Her eyes narrowed at Ron and Harry and she spat, br

       "They don't want to talk to you right now," and started to shut the door, but Lily's high voice, weighed down with tears, said, "Wait." br

      Her perfect hands, one of the things Harry liked most about her curved around the door, pulling it out of Ginny's grasp. She said kindly to her, "You can go back to your dormitory now, thanks." She'd done a bad job of cleaning herself up hurriedly and her black mascara was still running in black streaks down her face. br

      She did her best to wipe it away as she looked at Harry and said, "Do you want to go for a walk?" Harry nodded and she said to Ron, "Hold on a second, I'll get Hermione." She shut the door and there were some sharp voices but when she opened the door again, she emerged, mascara wiped away but eyes still very red and puffy and Hermione followed her out, face livid but showing signs of having been crying too. They walked silently back through the common room and out the portrait hole, all eyes on them but not bothering to look. With a teary glance exchanged between the girls and a doomsday glance between the guys they headed off in opposite directions. Harry followed Lily all the way down to the Charms corridor and into what looked like an empty classroom. There were desks piled up on the sides of the room. For a fleeting instant Harry thought Lily was going to curse him as she pulled out her wand, but she called two of the desks over. They sat down facing each other in complete silence for a moment then both started at once. br

       "I'm sorry, I never should've overreacted like that…"Harry said. br

       "I owe you an explanation, I shouldn't have just sprung it on you…" Lily said. Both stopped dead and Lily gave a nervous, choked up kind of laugh, then took a deep breath and said, "Okay, you know I believe whole heartedly in Divination right?" br

      Harry nodded. br

       "Well last night I was crystal gazing, now don't look at me like that, you've seen me go into a trance before," she said as Harry gave her a skeptical look, "and I saw that something's going to happen at the Yule Ball if I go with you. It wasn't clear exactly what but I saw two people fighting, four people running into a labyrinth, a trap waiting for them." She sighed and continued, "I saw a person being carried out limp, and Harry, I saw death." Her words had so much more weight then Professor Trelawney's but the similarity between the way they said it struck Harry as odd. He wanted to say more than anything everything what Hermione would've said in that situation. Harry was so frustrated. Lily was willing to miss her Yule Ball, to make Harry miss it, because he obviously wasn't going to go if not with her, just because of a prediction she's made on a orb. br

      Harry shut his eyes and sighed, massaging his temples and finally said, "Lily, isn't the whole point of seeing the future then having the ability to change it?" br

       "Sort of, you aren't going to be able to change things that are supposed to happen, but yes, that's why most of it's done." br

       "What if we work our hardest that night. No matter how mad we get at each other, we won't fight. We'll avoid anything that's like a labyrinth at all costs… would that work out?" br

      Lily looked skeptical but also like she wanted to go. After a long pause in which Harry could pretty much see her mind working, she nodded shortly and closed her eyes as if hoping that she wasn't making the wrong decision. br

       "Good then! That's settled," said Harry cheerfully, fully sure that nothing was going to happen. They stood up and walked slowly back to the common room, Lily still with a look of dread that nothing Harry did could wipe off. Finally in exasperation, he pushed her up against a wall and kissed her fiercely. There was no love in the kiss; he just  poured all his frustration into it. When he pulled away she looked at him surprised but smiled for the first time since their fight. She pulled him back towards her and they kissed passionately for a while, Harry never wanting it to end, but they had to stop when Peeves came zooming down the hall and screeched, "OOOH! P.D.A. in the hallway." They took off for the common room, Peeves screaming after them "Cannonbergh and Potter, right in front of me, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" br

      Once they collapsed into chairs before the fire, laughing, they didn't have to wait very long for Ron and Hermione. They arrived shortly, Hermione smiling contentedly but Ron still looking slightly upset. After the girls went to bed, both smiling smugly, their laughter echoing down the stairwell, Ron turned to Harry and said, "Krum's coming, but he's going home right after the dance. Good thing because if he makes a move on Hermione…" Ron made a threatening gesture midair, as if he could beat the burly, round shouldered, duck footed, seeker.  br

      The next to weeks went insanely fast, first with studies and then patiently working through the tons of work they were given over holidays. Before Harry paused to take a breath he was being woken up by Ron's excited whispers and pokes, "Harry! Get up! It's Christmas!" br

      Harry opened his eyes blearily and looked at the small mountain of presents at the foot of his bed, with a large eared, long nosed, tennis ball eyed creature sitting on top of it. br

       "DOBBY!" Harry said delightedly, "How are you doing??" br

       "Oh fine Harry Potter, sir. Dobby just wanted to give Harry Potter his present before he goes to the kitchens to start work on the feast." Harry expected his usual gift from Dobby, a pair of revolting, unmatched socks, but instead he grabbed a nicely wrapped box and shoved it into Harry's hands, watching, his eyes watery as Harry ripped open the wrapping paper to reveal, br

       "WOW DOBBY! A set of solid gold gobstones!!" Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He'd wanted these since his 3rd year when he'd seen them in Diagon Alley. br

       "Dobby saved up all his wages from the past years, and got help from Snuffles. Does Harry Potter like the gift?" br

       "DO I?!!" It took all the will power Harry had not to pull Dobby into a hug. Ron was looking enviously at the gobstones. "and you say this was from Si--- from snuffles too?" Harry said. Snuffles was their code name for his godfather, Sirius Black. br

       "Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir, but now Dobby must go, he has to get to the kitchens." br

       "But don't you want your present, Dobby?" Harry asked, smiling as he pulled out a small wrapped package. For once he had remembered to get Dobby something for Christmas. br

      Dobby's eyes watered as he ripped open the package to reveal a pair of smart black pants with a buttoned blue shirt, a black tie and a black hat with holes for his ears. Hermione, Lily, Ron and Harry had each chipped in, getting him an article of clothing. Since Dobby had been freed he'd been wearing clothes that were extremely odd and mismatched such as a tea cozy for a hat. Dobby didn't seem to know what to say, but he jumped back on the bed and squeezed Harry so hard he thought a rib was going to crack. When Harry regained his breath he managed to wheeze, with a mischievous glance at Ron, "You know, Ron, Lily and Hermione chipped in too!" Dobby leaped on Ron, squeezing him just as tightly and telling Harry to be sure to thank Lily and Hermione before scampering off to the kitchens. br

      Ron glared jokingly at Harry before ripping into his next present, revealing a squashy sweater that for once, wasn't maroon. It was a nicely crocheted black sweater a small orange speeding cannonball on it and the letters CC for Ron's favorite quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Ron stared at it for a moment, as if surprised that his mom got his tastes dead on, then pulled the sweater on. It looked quite good on him. Harry got a plain green sweater that was also done very nicely. It looked a lot like something Harry would've bought himself at a store. Mrs. Weasley also included a huge pan of home made fudge and some assorted meat pies. From Ron, Harry got a bulging bag full of trick sweets and Harry had gotten him a violently orange scarf that looked nice with his cloak also with a cannonball and CC embroidered on it, although in black. From Hermione Harry got a large pile of chocolate frogs (Harry was now collecting the cards.) br

      He pulled the last package toward him, the Dursleys hadn't even sent a present this year, although they were never very good. It was huge, and obviously from Lily. As he opened it he was surprised to discover that it was a set of accessories for his Firebolt. Harry was almost more pleased with this than the set of gold gobstones, although he couldn't decide quite which. It included an extra set of stands so that two people could ride comfortably, Harry took the hint, a magical navigation device for longer trips, and a device that when attached and activated put a shield around the entire broomstick and the people riding. Ron also looked at that enviously but couldn't be too jealous because he didn't have a Firebolt. The school had upgraded all their brooms to Nimbus Two Thousands though, so they could no longer complain about the shabbiness of the school brooms. After all the presents were unwrapped, Ron and Harry ran down into the common room where Hermione and Lily were waiting. br

      Before Harry could even say a word, Lily ran up and hugged him, breathing in his ear, "Oh Harry, it's beautiful!" When they pulled apart he saw that she was playing with the necklace, than as if on impulse just grabbed him and kissed him hard on the lips. A few people oooohed but she wasn't embarrassed at all. br

       "Thank you so much for the accessories!" Harry said over their calls. br

       "They were nothing compared to this…" she said, looking down into the universe, her eyes shining. They embraced again and she turned to Ron saying, "Happy Christmas, Ron. Thanks for the book! I love it!" br

       "Oh, your welcome, and thanks so much for all the joke stuff," he said, an odd glint in his eye. br

      After a while saying "Happy Christmas" and "Thank You" they headed downstairs for a breakfast that was a feast in itself. For once Lily took part, eating three whole pancakes before she was done. She smiled embarrassedly and then they headed outside to play a game of chicken on broomsticks barely a foot off the ground and then a spirited snowball fight. At five o'clock the Lily and Hermione went inside to get ready for the ball, but   Harry and Ron put the broomsticks away then watched the people trying to ice skate on the lake. br

      At 6:30 they headed upstairs and got ready, Harry taking extra time to make sure his hair lay perfectly flat and Ron admiring his new dress robes, so different from the maroon ones with ends jagged from where he tried to sever the moldy lace cuffs that had been attached. These ones, which his brothers had bought for him out of the money Harry had given them at the end of 4th year were deep blue with gold trim. They looked quite nice on Ron. Harry was wearing emerald green ones that really brought out his eyes, with an ornate silver pattern along the edges. br

      After they had gotten ready then went out into the common room and waited several minutes for the girls. Not long after they'd been waiting they arrived. Lily's hair was in three loose French braid, sprinkled with what looked like mini twinkling stars and was twisted up, ending in a particularly large star, then flowing over it in an elegant shower of curls. She was wearing blue robes the exact shade of her eyes with silver stars and moons embroidered in at the hem. She was wearing the necklace that Harry had given her, although to Harry, the galaxy around her neck didn't even come close to comparing with her beauty. She looked stunning. Hermione too, looked very gorgeous, her hair left down but in smooth waves, clipped here and there with pearl beads. Her dress was a pale pink with pearl trims and her neck was accented with a thin strand of pure white pearls. br

      They just stood for a minute, admiring each other, then finally put their arms in each others and walked out. As they exited the portrait hole, Krum stood, looking larger and more impressive than before, with his long, curved nose, but still duck footed and distinctly round shouldered. br

       "Hermy-own-ninny, you look very beautiful." Ron glared at him and he looked away, his eyes catching on Lily. "and who haff ve here?" br

       "This is Lily," Harry said defensively, "my girlfriend." br

       "Oh, vell she is… vow." br

      Lily giggled appreciatively but led them into the Great Hall. It was decorated as stunningly as always, with the 12 huge Christmas trees, decorated with everything from bewitched candles to shining stars to real fairies. The walls were shining with frost that was magicked so it wouldn't melt. Fleur Delacour was present, looking as beautiful as ever, but as he had suspected, as she came up to say hello, even she wasn't as gorgeous as Lily. br

       "Zis is impossible! 'arry, you look so, so grown up!" br

       "Yeah, well he _is 16," Lily said, with a protective tone. br_

       "Oui, but last time I saw 'im, 'e was just a vairy little boy!" br

       "Oh well, I hope you have fun tonight," Lily said abrasively trying to get Fleur to go away. She took the hint and with a flip of her white blonde hair, she was off. br

      They ordered like they had at the Yule Ball before, looking down at their plates and saying what they wanted off the menu in front of them. The food was absolutely delicious and this time Harry was fully able to enjoy it because he was with a girl he actually liked, maybe loved. Before long the entertainment, provided by Celestina Warbeck started up as she struck a slow, vocally challenging tune. Lily squealed that it was one of her favorite songs and led Harry out on the dance floor, where she wrapped both her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. Not knowing what to do with his other hand his clasped it in his left, settling for resting them on the small of her back. After a while she leaned in and put her head on Harry's shoulder. He felt in heaven as they rotated slowly to Celestina's amazing voice. br

      Too soon the song was over and she struck up a quick pop-like tune. Harry tried to guide Lily off the dance floor, stuttering in an embarrassed sort of way that he couldn't fast dance, but Lily wouldn't hear of it. With a few instructions Harry started moving back and forward to the beat, feeling dumb bobbing around, but soon he was feeling more comfortable, shifting his arms and his feet, until he eventually got into the groove of the music. After watching him for a while, Lily began to dance too, in a way Harry had never seen anyone dance before except American movies. Her eyes shut and running her fingers through her curls she bounced around, twirling her hips and rolling her shoulders, a look of intense happiness on her face. Pretty soon she started pulling out some bigger moves, twirling in a circle, leading with her hips, hands in spirit fingers on them, twisting down to the ground then rolling her body back up. It was almost too much for Harry to stand. She was dancing more exuberantly than anyone else, but she didn't seem foolish. Her motions were smooth, liquid, and several people around her were starting to try and copy her, doing a bad job of it. Pretty soon, though, after a few songs, even Lily got tired and walked over to Ron, who was sitting along at a table, panting slightly and wiping sweat off her forehead. br

       "Where's Hermione?" Lily asked, looking around. br

       "She was dancing with Krum and I lost track of them. I haven't seen them since." Ron was trying to sound nonchalant but his eyes darting this way and that through the dancers gave him away. br

      Lily looked thoughtfully at him for a moment then stood up, offering him her hands and saying. "Let's go find her," br

      Ron took her hand in a friendly manner and she pulled him up. He got up gratefully and they walked out into the hallway, listening for voices over the dull murmur in the Hall. There were two distinct voices coming from the left, one a rather harsh toned and thick girl's and one an obviously accented man's. They hurried off in that direction and the voices came into focus, barely above a whisper now. br

       "Ever since I haff known you, Herm-own-ninny, I knew you had to be mine." br

       "Viktor…" Hermione's voice broke off suddenly and as the three of them rounded the corner they stopped dead. Hermione was pressed up against a wall, Krum in front of her. Her hands were on his shoulders, and they were deep in a passionate, rather forced looking kiss. br

       "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!!!" Ron yelled. Hermione and Krum broke off suddenly and Ron tried to lunge himself at Krum. Thinking it wouldn't be a good idea for a 16 year old boy to take on the greatest seeker of all time, both Lily and Harry grabbed on to Ron's robes, holding him back. This however, didn't stop his mouth from going. "You…" he exclaimed, Lily snatching his wand out of his hand as tried to curse Krum. He brought it swishing down but then realized it was M.I.A. so he resorted to calling him very severe names, "What do you think you're doing kissing my girlfriend?" Krum glared at him, slouching once again, as if it was insulting just to say that Hermione was Ron's girlfriend. "And you!" Ron said, rounding to glare at Hermione. "THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO COME. You told me I could trust you and I find you two having a hot little necking session in the hallway? You just couldn't keep your hands off him, could you?" Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but Ron cut her off. Harry would've given anything to stop him from saying what he said next. "MAYBE RITA SKEETER WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU! YOU'RE JUST A WHORE!" br

      Hermione's face twisted from impatience, to anger and then broke faster than Harry had ever seen anyone's before. Before Ron realized what he had just said, before he'd gotten as far as "Her-Hermione.. I'm so…" she'd burst into silent tears and run down the hallway. br

       "It's happening," Lily said in a scared tone, but nonetheless took after Hermione in an amazing pace. Harry's head spun. What had just happened? Where were they going? What did Lily mean, 'It's happening?' br

       "Maybe you should leave," Harry said coldly before turning and walking at a dignified pace down the hallway. As soon as he rounded the nearest corner though, he broke into a run, desperate to catch up to Lily and Hermione. To Harry's surprise, Ron was right behind him, although not quite as fast. He followed the sound of Lily's heels clicking down the hallway and Hermione doing what sounded like choking on her sobs, until they were muffled by a door opening and shutting. br


	6. Into the Labyrinth

                       Chapter Six- Into the Labyrinth/br /br

        Harry swung open a heavy wooden door and walked a few steps. In the time it'd taken him to open the door, the sound of Lily and Hermione had faded away. Judging by the footprints in the dirt, they'd both headed into a path lined with rosebushes on either side. Stopping a moment to catch his breath and wait up for Ron, Harry strained his ears. He heard the wind blowing through the snow laden trees but noticed that miraculously there was no snow on the ground in the path. He muttered, "_lumos_" under his breath and a bright light shot from the tip of his wand. Ron did the same and they walked through the paths carefully, quietly, so as not to miss a noise that might give them a hint as to where the girls were. They followed the path then took a right, then a left, coming up at a solid hedge. br

        "What is this!" Ron swore, kicking the bush. Suddenly it clicked in Harry's mind. br

        "It's a maze," he said in a barely audible voice, then it struck him and he took off at a breakneck sprint. br

        "HARRY WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Slow down!" Ron said, falling behind him as he ran after the possessed Harry. br

        "Lily had a prediction; it's a maze, RON SOMEONE'S GOING TO DIE!" Harry yelled over his shoulder as he got back on the straight path. He was running blindly through the maze, not having any clue where he was going, where he was aiming for. He tripped a stray branch and sprawled on the ground, his wand going out and panting so hard he thought he would cover up any sign of the girls anyways. br

       Suddenly, to his left, muffled through several hedges he heard, "Hermione? Are you oka…" Lily and Hermione's screams ripped through the crisp night air, cutting it like a knife. There was a wooshing noise, running footsteps, a soft grunt and two thuds as a brilliant, blinding green light lit up the maze around him. br

       Abandoning all pretenses, not worried about anything except getting to Lily, Harry raised his wand and said, "_Obtrusium_." The bush in front of him was blasted away, large enough for Harry to push his way through. "_Obtrusium__, Obtrusium, Obtrusium." Harry said as he ripped his way through the bushes to his left, not slowing to climb through carefully and emerging from each with his robes a little more ripped and his face a little more cut. He finally made his way into a small opening where a small body was lying crumped on the ground, someone large trying to get up behind her. The bushes behind them were blasted through so far that Harry could see the lake shining on the other side. br_

        "HERMIONE!" Ron yelled, running over to her and lifting her head into his lap. He shook her vigorously and her eyes popped open. She screamed and tried to pull away from Ron before realizing who it was and just managed to stutter, tears streaming down her face and eyes bulging, "Harry, Voldemort, Avada Kedavra, Krum, Lily, GO!" then passed out in a dead faint,  her head falling limply back into Ron's lap. br

       Harry got the gist of it and run through the maze faster than he'd ever imagined he could, blasting away rose bushes as he went. A faint glow was coming from the direct center of the maze and he aimed for it. Suddenly he skidded to a stop as a huge something burst into the air. It looked like it was made of twinkling green stars in the shape of a skull with wide gaping holes for the eyes and mouth, and a snake for a tongue, the Dark Mark. Most wizards, perhaps ones that weren't in such a state of panic as Harry, would have run away because Voldemort and his followers only used the Dark Mark when they killed, but something in Harry told him that Lily couldn't be dead, she just couldn't. Nonetheless he prayed silently that he wasn't too late, running as fast as he could towards the center of his maze, thinking only of what would happen if he never saw Lily again. br

       As he burst through the last bush a cold, high voice called in a delighted tone, "_crucio__." Harry was overtaken by a pain the likes of he'd only felt once. He jerked and twitched, eyes rolling in his head and scream on his lips, all his muscles seizing up and stretching, tearing, as his bones crunched together. Suddenly it stopped and he was left on his side, still twitching, his whole body in pain, particularly his forehead, where his scar felt enflamed, like someone had just put it on him with a branding iron. Soon Harry was able to focus his eyes and he saw Lily, alive and conscious but bound with thin ropes that were tight enough that they were cutting into her skin, blood dripping below them. There was no one else there, just Harry, Lily, and the evil Lord Voldemort. br_

        "So, Harry Potter, we meet again. Once again you're in an extremely impossible situation, but this time, I've taken precautions to make sure that we won't have a repeat of last time." The last time Voldemort and Harry had come face to face, Dumbledore had arrived just in time and had saved Harry for the 4th time. Voldemort had somehow gotten a new wand, to prevent their wands for locking again, the means by which Harry escaped in his 4th year. Desperation seized Harry, and he felt as if a vice were slowly tightening over his heart. He tried to pull himself up and was almost on his feet when the Cruciatus curse hit him again. His eyes bulged as he wiggled around on the ground, his entire body feeling as if it were on fire from the inside. He was struggling to focus, to fight the pain, but all he could get in his view was Lily, sobbing as she watched him, blood dripping from her arms and legs onto the ground. br

        "It's pathetic. You've escaped me so many times, but there's nothing special about you. You've been a very lucky child, you poor, pathetic little hero." Harry felt himself being lifted as the pain left his body momentarily. He landed on his front beside Lily, feeling the bones in his nose crunch as easily as the bridge of his glasses had snapped. Blood flowed freely as he turned and looked into Lily's damp, horrified eyes. br

       Voldemort was saying something that Harry wasn't paying attention to. All his energy was focused on Lily. Harry slid his wand out from under his body and muttered, "_Severo__," barely above a whisper. The cords that were holding Lily snapped but stayed in place, slightly loosening so that they no longer cut into her skin. Harry didn't want the ropes to fall because then Voldemort would notice and turn his wrath on Lily. Harry smiled weakly and turned to Voldemort who was now standing over him, looking down at him with a pale snake-like face that had slits for nostrils and giant, bloodred eyes. br_

        "Such a tragic life, but it need not be. You chose this life, you know, Harry, just as your parents chose their pointless lives. They died to save you Harry, and tonight they're going to have died in vain." Harry narrowed his eyes, a terrible anger settling in his chest. He called Voldemort a terrible name and he tsked, lifting Harry up and slamming him down on his side on the opposite side of the clearing. Harry felt a rib crack as searing pain ripped through his chest. br

       Voldemort's back was to Lily and he raised his wand to lift him again just as Lily freed herself and screamed "_Expelliarmus_!" Lily seemed relieved as she caught Voldemort's wand deftly, but her eyes opened in horror as he made a clutching motion in the air and both Lily and his wands went flying back into his hand. br

        "Foolish girl, do you think I wouldn't have armed myself against such a simple charm?" he turned to Harry and said, "I think it's best if we end this now, _Imperio." br_

       Harry felt all the pain leave his body as a pleasant floating sensation overcame it. His mind suddenly became mush in his head and he couldn't form thoughts. All of the sudden a cold, controlling voice entered his head. br

        "Kill her." Harry willingly raised his wand, ready to perform the curse, but then a new voice floated across the vast expanses of his mind. br

        "Why would I kill my girlfriend?" he heard his own voice say. His mind became a little sharper. br

        "Kill her!" br

        "I don't think I will." br

        "KILL HER!" br

        "NO!!!!" This burst from Harry's mouth as all the pain rushed back, knocking the wind out of him. Harry raised his wand, more than willing to kill Voldemort but he was too fast. br

        "_Expelliarmus_,"_ Voldemort yelled, and Harry wand was ripped from his hand. "Very well, it was going to be quick for her, but now you'll have to watch her suffer." Harry lunged for Voldemort, forgetting all about magic, about how much more powerful Voldemort was than he, but the same thin ropes snapped out of the ground, cutting into his flesh. Voldemort approached Lily slowly, his red eyes glinting madly. "__Crucio_."___ He said, and Lily writhed, held upright by the cords. Harry couldn't stand it. He felt a rage like never before enter his mind. He wasn't thinking clearly, his scar hurt him too badly, but he managed to see what happened next. Volemort released Lily from the curse, but walked up to her, brushing a curl out of her face and running one long, pointed finger along her jaw line. br_

        "Such a pretty girl, it would have been great for you to have died flawless, but thanks to your boyfriend, you'll die painfully, and very much marred." Harry didn't know what made Lily do it, maybe it was just the fury that was burning within her, showing her eyes, or the fact that she knew that she was going to die anyways, but she craned her neck and lurched forward, spitting in Voldemort's face, eyes narrowed dangerously. He reached back, and punched her hard across the face. Blood burst from her mouth as her head twisted to the side. br

       Harry couldn't tell what was happening anymore. He'd never been so infuriated in his life. His whole body seemed to be shaking with it and his scar burned in his forehead. It felt like it was going to rip his head in two. He saw a blinding white light and all time seemed to slow down a million times. He wanted to get away from the light, away from the white hot heat that was enveloping his entire head, but something told him that he had to focus deep within, focus on the light. Harry's mind fogged, all he could see was the blinding white light and he pushed through it, a little deeper into himself. br

       He saw his mother, heard her screaming to save his life, _a little deeper_. br

       He saw his father, looking so much like he did, standing bravely to fight Voldemort, _a little deeper. br_

       He saw Sirius, locked away in Azkaban for a crime he never committed, _a little deeper._ br

       He saw Cedric Diggory, lying beside him on the ground in a graveyard, dead at 17, _a little deeper. br_

       He saw Hermione, lying limp on the ground in the maze, he saw Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, barely alive, he saw Neville Longbottom, his eyes wide as he saw Crouch perform the curse that had made his parents insane, _a little deeper, a little deeper, a little deeper. br_

       All sound stopped. A scream issued from his mouth and he saw a bright light flowed from his own scar. The ropes snapped and the ground began to shake under Harry's feet as he saw Voldemort turn to face him, a silent scream etched in his disgusting face, eyes wide with fear. He saw Lily, looking at him, eyes wide, holding her side where a large wound had opened, blood gushing to the ground. As she fell on her knees, on her side Harry felt something inside his mind break. A surge of power, all the life he had in him exploded through his forehead and he felt as if he were being turned inside out. He felt his muscles scream as all their energy was thrust outward. All the sounds of the past seconds caught up with him, amplified thousands of times, deafening him, the light blinding him, thinking only of Lily. Then there was blackness. br

       For all Harry knew, he was a pair of eyeball suspended in black space. He felt no pain, saw nothing, not even his own body as he looked around, just a vast expanse of pitch black. It was completely silent and devoid of anything, except Harry was suddenly able to think clearly. Something on the edge of the expanse faded from black to grey, in the shape of a tall thin man. It walked closer to him, and it lit up bright white, then suddenly full, realistic color. It got close enough for him to stare into a thin face with messy black hair, piercing brown eyes, wire frame glasses. It was like looking in an aging mirror. Harry was looking at his father. br

       James smiled and spoke, his voice echoing as if he was talking from a long ways away in an empty cave. "You did well, son. You fought for the right side all the way to the end. You made us so proud, but you can't be with us yet. It's not your time." br

       Harry felt desperate, he was seeing his dad for the first real time in his life, and he reached out, but he had no hands, no form. "But I want to stay with you and mum!" Harry pleaded, a tear slowly trickling down his face. He didn't know what was happening, where he was, but if his parents were there, he wanted to be there too. br 

        "You'll be with us in time, but there's someone who needs you, that you should be with more…" br

       Suddenly Harry saw in his mind a flash of shining blue…br

        "…someone else that you love…"br

       A light airy smell of a flower…br

        "… in a way you could never love me and your mom…"br

       A flash of gold in a sea of brown…br

        "…someone who needs you…"br

       A feeling of soft, cool skin, of luxurious curls…br

        "… now more than ever…"br

       Lips on his…br

        "LILY!" Harry said, the darkness and his father all vanishing in an instant as his eyes popped open. Searing pain ripped through his entire body but he ignored it as his mind became abnormally sharp. He saw Voldemort's body, lying unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Harry had a feeling he was really dead that time, somehow his guards against mortality having been broke, but Harry didn't dwell on this. He pulled himself up, every muscle in his body moaning in protest and crawled over to Lily. She was lying on the ground, head lolled to the side, a huge gash across her stomach, eyes closed. She was barely breathing, a death rattle, dying from both external and internal injuries. He didn't have much time. br

        "_ACCIO DIETIEM TEARS!" Harry said, grabbing his wand out of Voldemort's cold hands. No thought of 'What if this doesn't work?' filled his mind, just hoping, praying that it would get there in time. There was no one else around, what was taking so long…br_

       Harry caught the bottle as it zoomed towards him and emptied half of it into Lily's mouth. She swallowed, barely alive. Harry quickly poured the rest over her stomach, which healed instantly. Her breathing stopped for a while and Harry panicked, blindly searching his mind for a spell, but then it came back, regular but labored. Relief spread through Harry as he leaned back, a different sort of blackness overcoming him, unconsciousness. br br

        "If you two don't shut up you're going to wake him up," came the sharp, tear laden voice of Hermione. Fred and George were arguing loudly about something, but before Harry could figure out what, they had stopped abruptly. br

        "It's all right, Hermione, I'm awake." Harry said in a feeble voice. He opened his eyes and stared around at the faces. It looked as if the entire Weasley family was there, much of the Griffindor House and all of the teachers. When Harry pulled on his glasses and focused his eyes on all of them, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny burst into tears, Hermione throwing herself on Harry, pulling him into a hug. Miraculously, there was no more pain. "Hermione, get off…" Harry shoved her off and marveled at the fact that he could used his arms, that he could sit up and feel perfectly normal again, like he had before the Yule Ball.  br

        "How long have I been here?" br

        "About three days," said Mrs. Weasley, through her tears, "when they found you, they thought you were, you were…" she broke off. br

        "They didn't know if you were ever going to wake up, once they confirmed that you weren't," said George, looking down at him with the most concerned face Harry had ever seen him muster. br

        "But I did," said Harry, who was just remembering everything that had happened in a surge. "I died. I saw my dad. He told me it wasn't my time, the I just woke up…" Harry tried to explain. There was no way he could put into words what he'd seen. "Where's Voldemort, what happened to him?" br

       Mrs. Weasley cringed at the name but Hermione said, "He's dead, for good. Harry, you finally defeated him. He's gone for good!" She hugged Harry again and he looked around. Everyone was looking at him with the deepest admiration. It finally sunk in. Voldemort was gone. He'd never come back. He'd never kill innocent people again. He'd never torture Muggles again. Harry had defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time. Harry's eyes focused on Dumbledore's, which were shining with unseen tears. He wanted to communicate more than anything that he did _not_ want to tell what happened. He'd had to explain very painful things twice in his life, the past two years in fact, but now that Voldemort was gone there was absolutely no reason to make him relive it. br

       Dumbledore, making Harry wonder once again whether he could read minds said, "Miss Cannonbergh has already told us everything." br

        "Where is Lily?" said Harry, noticing that she wasn't one of the faces in the crowd around his bed. br

        "I'm right here," she said, pushing her way forward, looking as stunning is ever, although her hair was frizzy and matted with blood and her face was extremely dirty. "Oh Harry," she said, throwing herself on him and jamming her lips onto his, as if they'd been separated for months. Harry wished the other people would look away but they just stood there, smiling down on them. She pulled away and whispered, tears in her eyes, "I love you." br

        "I love you too," Harry said, meaning it with his whole heart. br

       Professor McGonagall came into the room, her face confused, but it lit up when she saw Harry. "Ah, you're awake. I…er… I just called the Dursleys and they… er… well." br

        "That's it," said Mrs. Weasley seriously. "We're adopting you." br


	7. poststory discussion

A small post-story talk br br  
  
First of all I would just like to say, thanks to all the people who've been reviewing and I'm sorry about that state of my story. I cannot figure out the HTML! I thought I would like to add a little disclaimer, although it's a little late. All the characters in my story besides Dave Cannonbergh and Lillian Cannonbergh are the property of J.K. Rowling and partially Warner Bros. Inc. brbr  
  
Next I would just like to say that if anyone doesn't understand something in the story then they should just email me at Candy_gal05@hotmail.com . I would be more than happy to explain complicated sections, character motives, etc. etc. I will even be able to clarify what happened in the rose maze, although I cannot explain exactly how Harry got that surge of power cause even I'm not sure ;o). Once again thanks for all your input and I'm in the process of writing another story, this one's about a girl who actually gets sucked into the parallel universe in which these stories take place *turns out J.K. Rowling has been there and is just writing a highly coloured biography of Harry*  
  
Thank you so much Veronica Owens 


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